“We want to show what we´re capable of”
September 1, 2016
BOHEMIANS v DUNDALK
SSE Airtricity League, Dalymount Park, Friday September 2 2016, 7.45pm
Keith Long wants Bohemians to build on a positive week for the club when champions Dundalk come to Dalymount Park on Friday.
Bohs bounced back from a disappointing FAI Cup exit to Derry City a fortnight ago to record a first away win over St Patrick´s Athletic at Richmond Park in six years last Friday.
That was followed three days later with an emphatic 4-0 victory against Wexford Youths in the Leinster Senior Cup final, which saw Bohs win a trophy for the first time in six years.
Now Long has challenged his side to continue that form as they look to break into the top half of the table.
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He said: “We come into the game in a positive frame of mind. We´d an excellent win on Monday in the Leinster Senior Cup.
“It was great for people at the club to win a trophy. But we won´t be getting carried away by the Leinster Senior Cup.
“What was more satisfying was the win against St Pat´s. It was our most complete performance of the season.
“Last week, we´d been talking about how we could lift the team after our FAI Cup exit, so to bounce back with two really good performances has been pleasing.
“Everyone was gutted to go out of the FAI Cup the way we did. We still are, so it´s important we continue to show what we are capable of.
“We´ve set targets with the players and we are determined to climb up the table and finish the season strongly.”
Bohs were originally supposed to host Wexford Youths again this Friday, while Dundalk had been due to host Cork City.
International call-ups saw City postpone that clash, which led to Bohs´ fixture against Dundalk, originally scheduled for October, brought forward last week to this Friday to accommodate the Lilywhites´ Europa League fixture schedule.
Meanwhile, the Bohs v Wexford fixture has been rescheduled for Monday September 19th.
Long said: “You want to accommodate teams playing in Europe but it´s obviously not ideal. It´s not going to be ideal having just one home game in the final month of the season either.
“Dundalk were due to be our last home game of the season, you´d have expected a big crowd for that. That´s disappointing and costly for the club.
“But as a team, we just have to get on with it. We´ve had to change tack given the change of opposition, but we can bring the game to Dundalk.
“Dundalk are the benchmark everyone has to aspire to. They´ve been champions two years running and they´ve made the breakthrough in Europe.
“But we´ve given a good account of ourselves against them. We were the only team to beat them in the league last season and they needed a last-minute equaliser to stop us from doing it again a second time.
“This season, we´ve them beaten too, albeit in the Leinster Senior Cup. Even in the 0-2 defeat here, we were right in it but were undone by two clinical finishes.
“They´ll be up for it again. They´re only a point ahead at the top of the table and know they can´t afford any more slip-ups.”
Out of the cup, moving up the table is Long´s first priority for the remainder of the year. However, he also has one eye on his plans for next season too.
To that end, under-19s starlets Warren O´Hora and Dean Casey were given a taste of first-team football in the Leinster Senior Cup victory and Long plans to give youth a chance over the course of the remainder of the league campaign too.
Long added: “There is obviously always a high level of expectation at a club like Bohs. But we have to be realistic about where we are at too.
“We want to build a club that can win trophies. Success isn´t always instant. We´re part-time, so we have to be realistic about how we can set about doing that.
“We want to improve our recruitment process across all teams. From the schoolboys to under-17s, to under-19s, we want to build a pathway for players who have the potential to be good enough for the first team.
“We have good people at the club working to bring us forward. Ian Morris is a total professional looking to build the youths side of the club up, while we´ve brought in Dave Henderson as Head of Recruitment.
“We need these structures right so we can build a pipeline that bring players into the first team. We´ve had two of our under-17s – Dominic Peppard and Brandon Kavanagh – called up for international duty too. These are the type of players we want at the club.
“It was good to give Warren and Dean a taste of the first team on Monday. We´ll be looking to do more of that over the rest of the season, while getting the balance right too as we really want to move up the table as well.”
TEAM NEWS
Bohs continue without skipper Derek Pender (thigh), while Izzy Akindade remains a doubt through illness.
Stephen Best (ankle) and Mark Quigley (hamstring) both returned to training this week but remain doubts.