Long said: “Our ambition at the start of the season was to consolidate and hopefully build on last year’s position.

“That is still our ambition but we can’t spend our time distracting ourselves by looking at the table. Ultimately it’s the same each week – we have got to go out and try win our next game.

“It’s not going to be easy. We have to work hard and give a performance.”

Saturday’s opposition Longford Town are just a point adrift at the bottom of the table but have not won since the opening day of the season.

Regardless of going 15 league games without victory, Long is not taking the trip to the Midlands for granted.

He said: “It doesn’t matter who you play in this league, every team is capable of giving you a game.

“They’re down the bottom of the table, they know they need to start winning and they will be scrapping for points.

“Tony Cousins will have them throwing the kitchen sink at us and we have to be prepared for that.”

Last Friday’s 1-1 draw with Galway United after the mid-season break extended Bohs’ unbeaten run but Long felt it was a missed opportunity to claim all three points.

He added: “The danger after three weeks without a game is that you don’t come into a game at full tilt.

“But in fairness, we had trained hard, we did start brightly and should have gone 2-0 ahead, which would have been a different game.

“But after that initial spell of 20 minutes, Galway came back into it and equalised.

“We made changes in the second half and in the last 25 minutes, we looked like the only team who could win it and a decent shout for a penalty too.”

Bohs are once again without Jake Kelly (shoulder) but he has been given the all-clear to return to training. Dave Mulcahy (virus) is a doubt.

Bohs lie eighth on 17 points, while Tommy Dunne’s Tribesmen are five points ahead in fifth.

Long said: “Galway are ahead of us but we’re looking upwards now. We want to hit the ground running.

“Confidence is high and if we play to our strengths, we can move up the table.

“It’s important we get off to a good start. We were slow starting after the mid-season break last year – that can’t happen again.”

The last time these sides met marked a turnaround in Bohs’ season.

Having lost 1-0 to Galway at Eamon Deacy Park in April, Bohs made amends with a crucial 2-0 victory in the cup at Dalymount Park last month.

That win ended a run that had seen Bohs fail to win or score in seven games in all competitions.

Long added: “It was a huge game for us as our league form wasn’t great going into that game.

“You can see how much confidence the players took from that result. We’ve done very well since, but this will be a different game.”

Bohs welcome back Paddy Kavanagh (ankle) and Ayman Ben Mohamed (international duty). But Jake Kelly (shoulder) remains unavailable.

Goalkeeper Shane Supple joins the squad having been signed from Crumlin Utd, but defender Paul Rooney has left to join Millwall.

Meanwhile, due to a clash with St Patrick Athletic’s Europa League game, Tuesday’s ‪Leinster Senior Cup final between Bohemians and Wexford Youths has been postponed.

Perhaps due to the disrupted preparations, Wexford looked the sharper in the opening few minutes. They went direct as often as possible, and a long-throw from Craig McCabe was fired over acrobatically by Chris Kenny. Bohs, however, warmed up quite quickly. Keith Buckley sent Akinade through the channel, but the big striker’s shot was skewed wide. Akinade then stung the palms of Youths keeper Graham Doyle with a volley.

After referee Ben Connolly had to be replaced by his fourth official due to injury, Bohs stepped up a gear. First, Quigley shot over following a corner, and then, the visitors took a deserved lead. Buckley played a neat ball through for Akinade, who had far too much pace for the Wexford defence, and he finished coolly past Doyle into the bottom corner. Kurtis Byrne and Mark Quigley both had chances in the extended first half injury time, but couldnt extend the lead.

Roared on by their effervescent owner / local TD Mick Wallace, Youths were more dangerous after the break, but the Bohs defence kept most attacks at arms length. Paul Murphy had their best chance, but his header was weak and easily stopped by Dean Delany. The second half was less open, as Bohs managed possession professionally. Kurtis Byrne almost sealed the deal in injury time, but his shot curled just wide of Doyle’s post.

Bohs head into the break in much better shape than three weeks ago. Cup progression and back to back league wins have steadied the ship, and suddenly, the second half of the season looks to be a lot more promising for the Gypsies.

Wexford Youths: Graham Doyle, Craig McCabe, Gary Delaney, Stephen Last (Ryan Delaney, 42), Aidan Friel (Dany Ledwith, 89), Eric Molloy, Chris Kenny, Jonny Bonner, Andy Mulligan (Shane Dunne, 78), Danny Furlong, Paul Murphy. Subs not used: Matthew Connor, Conor O’Keefe, John Peare, Conor Whittle.

Bohemians: Dean Delany, Dylan Hayes (Lorcn Fitzgerald, 69), Dan Byrne, Dave Mulcahy, Derek Pender, Keith Buckley, Eoin Wearen, Roberto Lopes, Kurtis Byrne, Mark Quigley (James Kavanagh, 86), Ismahil Akinade. Subs not used: Lee Steacy, Stephen Best, Jason Caffrey, Paul Rooney, Derek Prendergast.

BohemianFC.com Man of the Match: Ismahil Akinade

Long said: “Our performances have improved over the last few weeks. But we won’t be getting ahead of ourselves by saying we’ve turned a corner just yet.

“Nobody would have ever expected us to beat St Pat’s 5-1 and, along with the two cup ties, we do come into the game with a bit of form now.

“We showed on Sunday that there are goals in this team. We hit St Pat’s early, we were really effective and made the most of our chances. But it’s a different game tomorrow and it will be extremely tough.

“We have to ensure we reproduce that intensity and tempo again so we can build on our recent form.”

First Division champions Wexford Youths have proved difficult opponents this season.

League leaders Dundalk needed an injury-time winner against them last Sunday, while the Youths claimed a notable scalp by beating Shamrock Rovers three weeks ago.

Long added: “It’s going to be tough. Wexford Youths have been very difficult opposition for every team so far in the division and will perhaps feel they should have more points in the board.

“The core of the team has been together a long time and Shane Keegan has made some subtle additions along the way.

“We were lucky to get away with a 3-3 draw when we played them earlier in the season, they ran Dundalk so close last week and they’ve beaten Rovers too.

“It will be difficult, but if the team can match the performances of recent weeks, we will give ourselves every chance.”

Mark Quigley is available for selection again after serving a suspension against St Pat’s.

But Jake Kelly (shoulder) faces four to six weeks on the sidelines, while Paddy Kavanagh (ankle) and Jason Caffrey (ankle) are both ruled out.

Also unavailable is Ayman Ben Mohamed due to his involvement with the Tunisian national team, while Dylan Hayes (calf) is a doubt.

Meanwhile, the Leinster Senior Cup final between Bohemians and Wexford Youths has been confirmed for Tuesday June 28, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm.