Heary said: “I won’t be pushing for Saturday’s game to be called off, that’s for sure. I want to us to play in Dalymount. We’ve barely played. We need games and we need games in Dalymount before the season starts.

“Weather hasn’t disrupted training too much. One day last week, it was pretty hectic so we only trained for an hour. It was the same on Wednesday – the cones were blowing all over the place – but we still managed to get a good 70 to 80 minutes out of it.

“But in terms of match practice, it has affected us. We played Swords and hoped to progress into the Waterford game but we went down and got 45 minutes where the pitch was flooded and the ball wasn’t moving. We didn’t get much match practice out of it but it was a good pre-season workout for the lads who played as it dragged the legs out of them.

“Fitness-wise, we’re where we want to be. There’s a few of them playing college games too, the likes of Roberto Lopes and Andy Mulligan. But as a team, we’re not there yet. We should be there before the start of the league season, which is the most important thing.”

With Sunday’s friendly against Sandyhill/Shangan also falling foul of the weather, Heary moved quickly to bolster his side’s preparations for the league season with a friendly against Tolka Rovers now scheduled  - subject to FAI approval – for Monday evening (IT Blanchardstown, 7pm).

“As soon as we heard Sandyhill’s pitch was unplayable, we started trying to organise a game for Monday,” he said. “If we get that and then play Shelbourne on Thursday, we’ll have three games in the space of a week, so we’ll have a good idea of where we’re at by the end of it.”

While the priority is getting his players primed for the league kick-off against UCD on March 7, Heary is still treating the Leinster Senior Cup – a competition Bohs have won a record 31 times – seriously.

He said: “It’s a challenge for us at this stage of the year. It’s a cup game, a one-off and we want to progress. But we’ll have to use it as part of our pre-season too and as a guide to where we’re at in terms of preparations for the league.”

Heary’s opposite number in the visitors’ dugout on Saturday is Alan Mathews and he is backing him to bounce back from his turbulent tenure at Shelbourne and rise above the controversy surrounding his appointment as successor to “Mr Bray”, Pat Devlin.

Heary, captain at Shels during Mathews’ spell there as assistant manager to Dermot Keely from 1998 to 2002, said: “Knowing Alan, he’ll get the team right and get the team prepared.

“Alan’s brought in some good players and kept some good ones too. Losing Jason Byrne to us and Kieran Marty Waters to Rovers is a blow but Alan’s proved himself before, winning cups at Longford and Cork. What happened at Shels happened but if you look at most managers, sometimes it doesn’t happen for them at one club but they move on and they do extremely well elsewhere.”

When these sides met in October, Bohs needed just a point with a game to go to avoid a relegation play-off but lost 1-0 at Dalymount Park before stumbling to safety as both clubs lost a week later. Heary said: “Dave Mulcahy was out, Anto Murphy was out and it was clear we struggled for experience in such an important game. Derek Pender and Dean Delany were the only experienced players out there.

“Games like that were the reason we added in the likes of Jay, Paddy Kavanagh and Aidan Price to give us a bit more balance between youth and experience. Hopefully the younger players learn from them and we won’t be fighting down the bottom of the table again.”

Heary has no injury concerns to report ahead of Saturday’s game, adding: “Training has been intense but the lads are looking after themselves. Nobody has taken any knocks but, then again, you can’t take too many knocks when you’re not playing matches!”

“The lads have been working extremely hard in pre-season. Their fitness levels are very good for this stage of the year and tonight is another test to see where they’re at in a match environment.”

Bohs step up their pre-season schedule next weekend with a double-header on Saturday and Sunday. First, the Gypsies host Bray Wanderers in the Leinster Senior Cup before a Bohs XI makes the short trip to Ballymun to face Sandyhill Shangan in another friendly.

Heary said: “Last week was all about getting players some game-time and getting them used to the speed of a match again. We’re stepping that up again now with stronger opposition tonight and against Bray next week. Between tonight and the two games next weekend, we’ll give everyone a run-out and get them really into shape.

“They’re looking good in training but it’s always different playing your first few games. It’s an adjustment at this stage of pre-season for players to get their match sharpness back – their timing, their reading of the game and all of that.”

The standout performance in the win against Swords Celtic was that of 24-year-old trialist Steven Beattie. The Skerries-born striker, who has spent the last few years with clubs in the USA, Canada and Iceland, netted a hat-trick having been introduced as a half-time substitute.

Heary conceded that he is looking to further strengthen up front, but insists he is happy with his options in other areas. He said: “Steven’s trained with us all week. Obviously that’s been hampered a little bit by the weather but he’s done well. We’ve only three strikers at the moment. Others can push up but it’s the one area where we would like to strengthen.

“We’ve spoken to a couple of people who have opted to go elsewhere for money reasons so if we do sign another striker, it’s going to have to be someone who really wants to be at Bohs and wants to play.

“We’ll have another look at Steven tonight – we need to see what he’s like against better opposition than Swords – and if he does well, we’ll sit down with him and his agent. If it’s right for us and right for him, we’ll try and sort something out.

“We’re not looking at any other positions. If we sign another striker, that’ll bring our squad up to 23, including the two under-19s – Jake Hyland and Lee Whelan – who are training with the first team and we’re happy with that.”

“We have to look to get the point we need. Football can kick you when you’re down and the other games could go against us.”

Bohemians come to this crunch game following defeat last week to Bray Wanderers in a game that Browne considers neither side deserved to win.

“It was a very poor game from the start. It looked like both teams were willing to settle for a draw. It took only one lapse of concentration and the ball was in the net. Too many of our players were down a gear. We have to rectify that this week.”

In the league this season Bohemians and Drogheda United have played out two draws. Last May in Hunky Dorys Park they shared four goals and six yellow cards. In July, in Dalymount Park, they drew 1-1 and again had three yellow cards each.

Drogheda United put Bohs out of the FAI Cup last May on their way to next month’s final.

Browne and assistant Owen Heary hope to have Anto Murphy (recovered from ulcer) and Dave Mulcahy (recovered from ankle injury) available for Friday. The two have been training but are subject to late fitness tests.

“It would be a big plus to have them both on the park in terms of experience and know-how and encouraging the young players,” said Browne.

With or without these two experienced players Bohemians may make some changes to their line-up, aiming to inject greater urgency into their play.

“We have a lot of players in the squad who have not had the experience of a relegation battle. We have to give them as much support as possible,” said Browne. “But when they cross that white line they have to motivate themselves.

“We have had great support over the last weeks. The players now have to go out and give a performance.”