“Limerick work hard, they’re good on the ball and they’re capable of getting points off a lot of teams. They have had a week’s rest, so we have to have players who are fresh and ready for the game, and fully focused on getting the three points.”

Limerick recently drew against the title-holders, St Patrick’s Athletic, Heary noted. “They’re getting their full squad back and they’re not conceding many goals. They’re a big threat from set-pieces with a couple of dead-ball specialists, so it’s important that we don’t give away too many free kicks around the box.”

For Friday, Anto Murphy (hamstring) and Jack Memery (knee) are absent. Club captain Dave Mulcahy has returned to full training following a knee injury and is likely to make the matchday squad. “Dave coming back is important for us and we’ll certainly need him with a game against the champions coming up,” said Heary.

Dan Byrne and Darragh Reynor are among those who made their first league starts of this season in the last fortnight and made strong claims to keep their places.

“Darragh has a great left foot, and is good in set-pieces, and that’s been valuable in the last games. It’s not an ideal position for him to play but he’s gone in there and done a job,” commented his manager.

“Against Dundalk, Dano [Byrne] did the job of protecting the back four brilliantly, against Bray he helped pushed us forward and against Athlone he scored a goal. He reads the game very well and he’s earned his place.”

Goalkeeper Lee Murphy was called into action in difficult circumstances last Friday, after Dean Delany’s sending-off, and acquitted himself well. “Lee’s a big lad and big presence. He and Dean are pushing each other on,” said Heary. Delany has served his automatic suspension and has a further one-match suspension to serve next week. But Heary has a choice to make for Friday between the two ex-Shels keepers.

Overall, Heary reckons his team is “playing well, even if we didn’t get some results we should have. There’s a positive vibe throughout the club and in the team. I think the fans are enjoying how the team is playing. A home victory would be very good for all of us, and would set a tone for the next few weeks.”

While Bohs went into Friday’s game against Bray Wanderers looking for a win, Heary was pleased by the second-half performance of his 10 men as they battled back to secure a late point through Dinny Corcoran.

Dean Delany’s foul on Jake Kelly after 20 minutes left the Gypsies both a man down and a goal down as referee Sean Grant pointed to the spot and gave the goalkeeper his marching orders. Bray midfielder Kelly was carried off on a stretcher with a fractured ankle, while Graham Kelly beat replacement netminder Lee Murphy with the resultant penalty.

Bohs were slow to respond in the first half, but returned after the break with a renewed sense of purpose. Heary said: “We came out with a game-plan for the second half. It’s difficult with 10 men but we knew if we kept our concentration, kept the ball and stayed in the game that with 15 minutes to go, we could bring on Jay Byrne, go three at the back and go for it. Thankfully Dinny Corcoran got the goal we deserved and that at least got us a point.”

Heary was critical of referee Grant’s decision to send off Delany as he believed “Derek Pender was behind Deano when the foul was committed and had the situation covered, so it wasn’t a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

“It looked like the referee was reaching for a yellow before the Bray players got involved,” he added. Heary also questioned the consistency of some other decisions and queried bookings handed out to Steven Beattie, Dan Byrne and even Bray’s Ismahil Akinade.

“It’s very frustrating,” he said. “There was a lot of time-wasting – Bray players were kicking the ball away when we were awarded throw-ins and nothing was done about it. Yet then you’ve players being yellow-carded for nothing.

“There’s a lack of consistency there and it can be frustrating for managers. Refereeing decisions have cost us in recent weeks. You look back to the Rovers game when they were awarded a penalty when we should have had a throw-in and then Dinny had a perfectly good goal ruled out. Referees can look back and go ‘I made a mistake’, but decisions are affecting results and affecting game-plans.”

Heary wished Jake Kelly a speeding recovery from his injury, adding: “It was just unfortunate, he seemed to twist his knee when he went in. It’s awful for such a young player and it looks like he could be out for a while.”

For Monday’s trip, Bohs are once again without Dave Mulcahy (knee), who has returned to training, and Anto Murphy (hamstring), while Delany will serve his one-match ban for Friday’s dismissal. Heary hopes to have a full squad to choose from on Friday when Limerick come to Dalymount Park.

Having reviewed the performance of their more defensive line-up in Oriel Park, Bohemians consider they gained “a good point and probably a deserved point”, according to assistant manager Graham O’Hanlon. “Dundalk are a very good team with very good movement. But we did create chances on the night.”

The performance and result also showed that Bohemians have depth in the squad, as those who came in acquitted themselves well, O’Hanlon added.

He has deputised for manager Owen Heary in his absence on a Switzerland-based module of his Pro Licence course. But Heary will be back in the dug-out for Friday’s game.

O’Hanlon insists Bohemians will not take Bray or any other team lightly. “Bray are a dangerous team and can cause us problems. They have good players up-front. Again, we need look at our system, and look at our players and make sure we are well set-up defensively,” he said.

“The lads are under no illusion: this is going to be a very tough game, and it’s a very important game as we go into an important period of the season, when we need absolutely to pick up as many points as possible.”

The 5-1 victory over Bray six weeks ago in the Leinster Senior Cup is not an accurate reflection of the two teams’ status, O’Hanlon added. “Alan [Mathews] and Barry [O’Connor] were just settling in and putting their stamp on the team. And since then Bray have beaten Sligo 1-0. That just shows you what they are capable of.”

Former Bray warrior Jason Byrne may well start against his old club, having been out of the starting line-up in the league up to last weekend. “He did excellently against Dundalk. He’s been unlucky not to be starting but it was Dinny[Corcoran]’s good form that kept him out. Over these next three games I fully expect to see Jason playing his part,” said O’Hanlon.

The competition for places has heated up elsewhere, as Daniel Byrne worked effectively to “snuff out danger” playing in front of the back four and Darragh Reynor applied his experience, strength and dead-ball skills, coming in for Jack Memery.

“Jack may benefit from a little time away. He’ll come back stronger from that because he is a good player,” noted O’Hanlon.

Keith Buckley returned to the starting line-up against Dundalk to put in his usual energetic and combative performance. “He never lets his player settle on the ball and he sets the bar for others in work-rate, as he goes around closing people down.”

Dave Mulcahy (knee) came into the season carrying an injury but he has returned to light training. He is not expected to be ready for Friday but may well feature in one or both of next week’s matches. Andy Mulligan has returned from quad injury to full training, but Anto Murphy (hamstring) remains out.

Bohemians may have all but one of their squad available for selection next week and Mulcahy will be especially welcomed back, according to O’Hanlon. “He is a key player for us. He sets the benchmark for others on the pitch and he’s very good in the dressing-room too. We want him back as quickly as possible.”

Goals scored by Shamrock Rovers last weekend came from missed tackles or losing possession in midfield. “It was small individual battles that cost us the game and they may have come from inexperience.

“One thing you can’t give players is determination or will. They have to have that themselves. There were a few incidents in the game where we lost a tackle and ended up conceding a goal.

“We were also able to show the players that when we won the tackle what the difference was. Our goal was probably the best of the game. It came originally from Roberto [Lopes] winning the ball in a tackle.

“The good thing about it is we’re creating chances and we did it against one of the teams that’s going for the title. Overall, I thought there wasn’t a big gap between the two teams, despite the scoreline.”

Heary still has to plan without Anto Murphy (hamstring) and Dave Mulcahy (calf) who have proven ability to help control the midfield and defence.

Murphy’s injury has proven more serious than was thought at first and he may be out for a further three weeks. But Mulcahy, who has had a knee and a calf injury in quick succession, may be just a week from returning.

The presence of players like these can have a crucial effect on how the team plays. “It’s how they lead by example and how they talk to people. The midfield is crucial and if you have someone there who can see the danger before it happens it makes a big difference. Maybe last week we were just lacking that bit of experience.”

But Heary wants to ensure his players do not focus too much on whether a certain player is available or not, and he wants to encourage younger players to show leadership.

Craig Walsh (22) has demonstrated that ability. “He has a great engine. He’s up and down, working very hard,” said Heary. “The lads can’t go into games thinking, ‘We’re missing such a player, or such a player’. They have to think, ‘OK, let’s go and win the game without them’.”

Dundalk represent formidable opposition, Heary notes, with a squad that is relatively settled over a couple of seasons and “hard to find weaknesses in”. Though they lost heavily in the opening league game of the season, they have beaten Sligo away and defeated Shamrock Rovers in the Setanta Sports Cup.

Heary notes this inconsistency is widespread. “Everybody has already lost at least one game in the league, and that may be down to worrying too much about getting points.” But the Bohemian manager also expects some teams to start putting winning sequences together and his team may well have that opportunity after this weekend when they play Bray, Athlone and Limerick over eight days.

Apart from injuries to Murphy and Mulcahy, Bohemians also have Andy Mulligan (quad) out, though he has returned to light training.

Since then, Bohs have won three and drawn two of the last five league games between the two great clubs. Heary doesn’t necessarily believe that run has to end this week.

“I know some people have been saying ‘we haven’t lost to them in a while, we’re due to be beaten by them’, but I don’t understand that – why are we due to be beaten? We’ll push for the three points – we’ve done that in every game so far and tomorrow will be no different.”

Although the teams know each other well, Heary has made sure his players are well informed about Trevor Croly’s new-look team. “We don’t leave anything to chance, we try to give the players as much information as we can about how they play. The thing about Rovers is they have a wide selection of players. If you take their B team into account, they have up to 40 players to choose from, so it’ll be difficult.”

The atmosphere in the lead up to a Bohs-Rovers clash – and especially on the night – is unrivalled in League of Ireland football. Heary says his players are well aware of the importance of the game to the fans and hopes that can be to Bohs’ advantage. “There’s more expectation – the players know that. When they sign here, they know that these are the games that the fans love.

“With us and Rovers, that intensity is always there – no matter where either team is in the table – whether we’re fighting for leagues, cups or anything. I don’t think tomorrow will be any different. Hopefully we can adapt to that and get a result.”

The Bohs boss has been impressed with the attacking threat posed by his side – who have scored 13 goals in their four competitive games to date. “This year we’ve had the lads from pre-season, and we’ve worked a lot on their confidence – we wanted them to go out and express themselves. You can see that now with Dinny (Corcoran) whose confidence is high, Jay Byrne is chipping in, Paddy Kavanagh, Steven Beattie. We’ve plenty of attacking options and I think that gives the team that little bit of momentum.”

Captain Dave Mulcahy (knee) looks certain to miss out alongside Andy Mulligan (quad), and Lee Whelan (ankle). Anto Murphy is (hamstring) is still doubtful, while Karl Moore is available again following a groin injury.

Pic: Owen Heary and assistant Graham O’Hanlon (Eddie Lennon).