Alan Reynolds is hoping for another electric atmosphere in Dalymount Park for tomorrow’s sold-out Dublin derby against Shamrock Rovers.

Five weeks in charge, Reynolds is hoping for a response from his side following last week’s defeat away to Dundalk, but feels that they are better equipped to take on Rovers than they were in his first game in charge.

In March, three days into his tenure, Bohs gave as good as they got in the first half at Tallaght Stadium as the sides went in scoreless at the break.

But they were picked off in the second half, with Rovers cruising to a three-goal lead before Declan McDaid grabbed a goal in injury-time that was of little consolation.

Reynolds said: “We are all really looking forward to the game, and we well know the importance of Dublin derbies to everyone involved.

“I’ve been here five weeks now, so I’ve had time to see many players. I would like to think that we are fitter and better organised than we were when we last played Shamrock Rovers in my first game but we know it is going to be a very tough game.”

Reynolds is keen for supporters to play their part too, highlighting how his players thrived on the encouragement from the stands in their last home game, a 1-0 win over Drogheda United a fortnight ago.

He said: “I don’t think there will be much motivation needed from anyone, but we all have a part to play.

“The crowd was electric in our last home game. They were exceptional and the players spoke about it afterwards and how they fed off that energy.

“We hope for more of the same because it can really make a difference, but the players know that they have to do their bit too.”

Bohs come into this game after a disappointing 2-0 defeat away to Dundalk last week, a loss that ended an encouraging three-game winning run.

So Reynolds knows his side will be up against it facing a resurgent Rovers side who have been steadily climbing up the table in recent weeks.

He added: “Before last week’s game, I felt we were getting the basics right. We were winning our duels, our individual battles.

“But that is something we didn’t do last Friday against Dundalk. We were disappointed with our performance, particularly in the first half.

“There was a bug in the team last week, which played a part as it affected three or four players. It affected us in terms of the changes we needed to make at half-time too. But thankfully, bar Danny Grant, it is gone from the group this week.

“We know that there will be a slightly different game plan against Shamrock Rovers this time compared to how we played them the last time. But we have prepared well.

“The lads were disappointed with themselves last week, particularly in the first half as I said, and I want to see a response from them.”

Team news

Danny Grant (bug) will sit this one out alongside long-term absentees Keith Buckley and Rob Cornwall.

Alan Reynolds has told Bohemians they cannot afford to ease off as they aim to make it four wins in a row when they travel to Oriel Park to take on Dundalk.

It was the first time since a four-game winning run in March and April of last year that Bohs won three league games in succession, but Reynolds says they must keep fighting for every victory in what is a congested league table so far this season.

He said: “We keep our players grounded. We know we still have loads to do.

“We compliment them on how well they have done but we are pushing them to improve standards, which is something you will hear from me on repeat, because we can never ease off. We have won three on the bounce, and now we want to make it four.”

Tomorrow’s meeting between the sides comes just 11 days after Bohs beat the same opposition 1-0 at Dalymount Park, sandwiched between a 2-1 win away to Shelbourne and a 1-0 victory at home to Drogheda United.

But there is a new man in charge at Oriel Park following the appointment of Noel King this week, and Reynolds says his side must be prepared for a Dundalk team looking to impress their new manager.

He said: “We only played Dundalk two weeks ago, and they were good. They were good against Sligo Rovers too. They have good players, so we are not expecting anything easy.

“With Noel coming in, their players will want to impress him too, so we have got to be ready for all of that, and I am hoping we will be.”

A busy fixture schedule in Reynolds’ first month in charge at Dalymount has necessitated squad rotation but also afforded him the opportunity to assess the options available to him.

He said: “We have had a chance to look at most of the players now over the past few weeks in games. You take a gamble doing that, but I felt it was important.

“I felt after the week we played Rovers, Galway and Waterford that it was necessary too as we lacked a little bit of energy, and we needed to freshen up and make changes. Thankfully it worked.”

While it has been a collective effort, Reynolds singled out Jordan Flores – on the doubtful list for tomorrow with a bug – for leading by example and James Akintunde for the contribution they have both made in Bohs’ improvement in form.

He said: “I don’t want to single out people as I think they have all been really good but Jordan as captain has been outstanding. He has turned into a real leader, which I am delighted with.

“You can see now that he is getting to an age where he is taking on a lot of responsibility within the group.

“When you look at the likes of Jordan and James Akintunde, they aren’t young lads. They have been around and that experience has been very important to us over the past number of weeks.

“There is a good mixture of young and senior players. I was told when I came in that the dressing room was good, with the likes of Keith Buckley and Rob Cornwall, and that has proved to be the case. But with them being out, lads have stepped up and are running it on the pitch.”

While relying on players to step up on the pitch, Reynolds believes supporters have stepped up off it too as he remarked on a noticeably improved atmosphere in Dalymount against Drogheda.

He added: “The support last Friday was absolutely brilliant. It was the best we’ve had since I’ve come here.

“We know we have to do our part on the pitch but having the fans encouraging the players last week as they did last week made a huge difference.

“They drove the team on. I’m hoping as a team that we get better on the back of that because building confidence is important.

“Obviously there were players here who were a bit shaky at the start of the season after a few up and down results. But confidence is a massive part of being able to push on, and fans can play a massive part in that as they did last week.”

Team news

Jordan Flores (bug) is a doubt. Rob Cornwall and Keith Buckley remain out.

Bohemians v Drogheda United
SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Friday April 19 2024, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm
Tickets: tickets.bohemians.ie

Alan Reynolds has called on Bohemians fans to give his side the encouragement they need to make it three wins in a row.

Bohs made it two wins in a row for the first time this season when they followed up last week’s 2-1 victory away to Shelbourne by coming out on the right side of a 1-0 scoreline at home to Dundalk on Monday night.

Tomorrow, they face another Louth side at home when Drogheda United are the visitors to Dalymount Park.

Reynolds said: “We want to build on a positive week, make it three out of three, keep the momentum going and try to go on a run.

“There is always a great sense of occasion and great atmosphere at games at Dalymount Park, and we want to send our home fans happy.

“But there is expectation when you play at home at Dalymount Park too, and with that expectation comes pressure on the players. I think the players felt that even more so this season because there was an up and down start.

“They don’t want to let the fans down but we know too that we are still a work in progress, and I think our supporters know that too.

“That means we need patience during games and, most importantly, all the encouragement from fans that we can get because when they get behind us, and really encourage our players, it builds their confidence and is something that spurs them on.

“There is a positivity among the players now after two wins on the bounce and we need everyone, fans and players, to pull in the same direction to build on that.”

Those two wins propelled Bohs up to third place but Reynolds says Bohs are still looking over their shoulder as much as they are at those teams currently ahead of them in the table.

Drogheda have already beaten Bohs this season – in Declan Devine’s penultimate game in charge – and Reynolds knows his side will have to dig deep once more to beat Kevin Doherty’s men.

He said: “We’ve seen now what a couple of wins can do in terms of moving up the table but we know too what a couple of defeats can do in dragging you back down again.

“We are conscious of both ends, and it is so early in the season. All we can do is take it game by game and do everything we can to win.

“We kept a clean sheet on Monday and that gave us a platform to build on. That has to be your starting point – being hard to beat – and we will get better attacking as we go. But first and foremost, we have to be hard to beat.”

Injuries, suspension and a congested fixture list have forced Reynolds’ hand somewhat when it comes to picking his starting XI.

He made six changes for Monday’s win, but was glad of the opportunity to change things around and assess the depth of his squad.

Reynolds added: “It gave me a chance to see more of what we’ve got, and what they can do. I need to see everybody.

“I got to see Filip Piszczek play for the first time. He has only been back training a few days but we threw him in and he did well. He is a handful and I believe he will get better as he gets more games under his belt.

“James Akintunde has done exceptionally well up front in recent weeks, and came off the bench to score on Monday, but we need those options. I always thought that the lads on the bench would play a big role, and come on and affect the game. James, Declan McDaid and others did very well when they came on.

“With three games in a week, there will obviously be changes around again. Obviously Jordan Flores returns from suspension, and he is a big player for us. It’s up to everyone to take their opportunity to impress when they get it.”

Team news

Jordan Flores returns from suspension. Keith Buckley and Rob Cornwall remain out.

Bohemians v Dundalk
SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Monday April 15 2024, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm
Tickets: tickets.bohemians.ie

Alan Reynolds says Bohemians enjoyed their Dublin derby win on Friday night but were straight back to work over the weekend as they plot something that has eluded them so far this season – back-to-back victories, starting with tonight’s clash with Dundalk at Dalymount Park.

A much-improved Bohs performance on Friday saw them beat the league’s early pace-setters Shelbourne at Tolka Park, with two goals from Jordan Flores – a penalty and a header from a corner – enough to see claim a 2-1 victory.

It was a morale-boosting win, and was Bohs’ second Dublin derby from four this season having struggled last year against teams from the capital.

But back-to-back victories is something Bohs have failed to achieve this season, and that inconsistency was a feature last season too. It is something Reynolds is determined that his side must address.

He said: ”The most pleasing thing about Friday was that I felt we looked comfortable. Shels are a good side but bar a ten-minute spell in the first half we were comfortable.

”We got a break and finished the half better, scored the penalty and scored from a corner kick. It was a tough game against a good team. But we were comfortable, and we need to build on that now.

”We enjoyed the win, and it was important for the fans as much as the players, but we have to follow it up. There’s no point getting yourself up for a Dublin derby if you can’t follow it up.

”Bohemians haven’t won back-to-back games this season and that’s not good enough for a club like Bohs. It’s obviously something we spoke about over the weekend and is something that has to change.”

Reynolds was relieved to finally have a full week to work with his new side ahead of the Shelbourne game after a busy fixture schedule since he took charge three weeks ago.

But with games coming thick and fast once more, Reynolds will be without the suspended Flores for tonight’s clash, and is also sweating on the fitness of other key men. He has challenged those afforded an opportunity to start.

He added: ”We have a decent squad and people will get a chance. There will be changes with Jordan out and a number of other players struggling with niggles after a busy couple of weeks. But it’s up to others to step up and take their chance when they get it.

“Last week was the first week I worked with them as I came with so many games in a short space of time.

“It was chaotic during the first eight or nine days so we had a bit of time with each other last week and I got to know them better. What I do know is that they care and want to win. Are we perfect? Far from it. But winning a Dublin derby will help.”

Team news

Jordan Flores is suspended, while Luke Matheson, Adam McDonnell, James Akintunde and Filip Piszczek are all doubts. Rob Cornwall and Keith Buckley remain out.

Tickets

Some Des Kelly Stand tickets remain on sale from tonight’s game and are available from tickets.bohemians.ie.

Match sponsors: Conduent Transportation

Tonight’s match sponsor is Conduent Transportation. Transforming how cities, and towns, keep people moving. With people, process, advanced technologies and analytics, Conduent’s intelligent public transport management systems deliver mobility and payment solutions that cut congestion and create safe, seamless journeys for everyone. They have kindly given their match hospitality tickets to kids from the local Bradóg Youth Services, and send their best wishes that they enjoy their matchday experience at Dalymount Park. See Conduent Transportation – Transforming how cities, and towns, keep people moving for more details.

Alan Reynolds has encouraged Bohemians fans to stick with his side and give them a lift when they make the short trip to take on Shelbourne at Tolka Park.

Bohs have had an up and down start to their 2024 campaign with three wins, a draw and four defeats from their opening eight games.

Tonight’s opponents, however, have been the surprise package this term and sit six points clear at the top of the table and remain unbeaten with six wins and three draws from their opening nine games.

But it is still very early days – as Bohs found after their own blistering start last season – and Reynolds is backing his side to improve.

He said: “When you work for a big Dublin club like Bohs you realise how important all derby games are to the fans.

“Shelbourne have really good players who are playing very well at the moment. They are top of the league for a reason, so we have to respect them as they have really good players who have shown they can hurt teams.

“But from our point of view, the most important thing is getting ourselves right. We have to deal with their attacking threats but we have to make sure we are an attacking threat ourselves.”

Reynolds says Bohs cannot have a repeat of last week’s game against Waterford where he felt they wasted possession in the opening half before giving away a cheap goal that allowed Keith Long’s side a platform to sit back and see out victory.

Reynolds said: “We didn’t start well, which was very frustrating given how well we started against Galway on Monday. We need to start like that every game but against Waterford we weren’t good enough.

“We gave away a cheap goal and that is something we have to rectify and have been working on because it gave Waterford the platform to change how they play and approach the game because they had a lead to cling on to.

“We’ve learned a lot over the last couple of weeks but we have to be better and work a lot harder than we did. We had our chances though but ultimately it was a frustrating night and we have to do better.”

Despite that frustration, Reynolds believes he has a side capable of improving and encouraged Bohs fans to get behind them and give them time.

He added: “The players need support and we need our fans to stick with us. There is obviously frustration this season, and we obviously all understand that.

“But we have some very good young players here, and a lot of new players too, who I feel can thrive if the fans stick with them as I have no doubt they will in what is a massive game now tonight.”

Team news

Dylan Connolly is a doubt. Keith Buckley and Rob Cornwall remain out.