“It’s been a long off-season and it’s our first home game. Supporters have been waiting for Friday night football at Dalymount Park for months now.

“We will be doing our level best to win and give them a good performance.”

Second-half defensive errors saw the Gypsies succumb to a 2-0 loss away to Cork City last Friday.

But there were plenty of positives to take from the game too, with Long’s men on top in the opening half against a side who have finished runners-up for the past two seasons.

Long said: “We went down with a game-plan that worked to a point. We had been good defensively and played a lot of the game in Cork’s half.

“There wasn’t a lot in it, but we were slow coming out in the second half and it was a bad first goal to concede – a basic error.

“We didn’t recover from it. To concede again ten minutes later meant the game-plan went out the window.”

Long admits Bohs are still a work in progress and has identified areas where he believes they need to improve.

He said: “As well as trying to reproduce the level of our first-half performance from last week, we also want to add to that a bit more quality when we’re on the ball.

“But we know we’re not the finished article yet. We are still integrating new signings and we’re looking to improve.”

Another man looking to integrate new players will be Long’s opposite number tomorrow, new Sligo Rovers manager Dave Robertson.

The former Peterborough United boss handed debuts to eight of his starting XI in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Shamrock Rovers at the Showgrounds.

Long added: “With so many new players having signed from England, Sligo are something of an unknown quantity this season.

“We went to watch them on Saturday and were somewhat unlucky to lose by two goals having had two players sent off.

“They’ve good players and played well, but we have identified areas we hope to exploit too.”

Bohs have no injury concerns going into the game with Roberto Lopes, who serves a one-match ban after being sent off against Cork, the only absentee.

Bohs boss Long resisted the urge to blood all of his new boys, with Kurtis Byrne the only debutant in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Other new signings Mark Quigley and Ayman Ben Mohamed were named on the bench. Cork fielded no less than 7 new signings including former St Pats duo Kenny Browne and Greg Bolger, with former Dundalk youngster Maguire leading the line.

In front of a heaving crowd of 4,028, Bohs took immediate advantage of the wind that blew strongly in the Gypsies favour towards the shed end. Sporting a startling new season hairdo, Ismahil Akinade was the target of plenty of early ball, and plenty of early punishment from the Cork defence. John Caulfield had clearly marked Akinade as the dangerman, and Kenny Browne was deservedly booked for clattering the Nigerian from behind after 17 minutes.

The pitch at Turners Cross was deceptively bad. Television viewers may not have been able to notice the very bobbly surface which made free-flowing football almost impossible. The ground staff at Turners Cross may well have been working hard, but a snow flurry the day before left the surface in a poor state. Summer football, ey?

Bohs struggled to convert their dominance in possession into any clear cut chances. Cork’s continued hacking of Akinade yielded plenty of free kicks, but Lorcan Fitzgerald’s deliveries were below his usual high standard. Nevertheless, Keith Long would have been satisfied heading into the dressing room at half time. His side had dominated the play, quitened the crowd, and left Cork looking toothless.

A ten minute salvo between the 53rd and 63rd minutes proved to be the winning – and losing – of this game. Bohs defender Anto Murphy will hope that the Sky plus box accidentally malfunctioned, because he wont want to watch this second half again. Cork full back Eoghan O’Connell chipped the ball into the box, and it seemed like an easy pass for Murphy to cut out. However, the defender tried to shepherd it back to Dean Delany, unaware that Sean Maguire was lurking right behind him. The former Dundalk man kept his composure and poked the ball past Delany at the near post.

The opening goal seemed to shell-shock the Gypsies, who never really looked coherent again. The second came just after the hour mark, and again Anto Murphy wont be happy. A similar pass down the channel put Maguire in a chase with Murphy, but the Cork man outpaced and outmuscled the experienced defender. Maguire still had plenty to do, 15 yards out at an almost impossible angle. That his firm shot found its way through Delany’s legs and in off the opposite post will be hugely disappointing to the Bohs shot-stopper.

Long introduced Mark Quigley and Eoin Wearen in an attempt to introduce more creativity to the Gypsies’ attacking play, but Cork and their fans had their tails up. Roberto Lopes grew increasingly frustrated, and his first yellow card was well-deserved for a lunge at Gavin Holohan. His second was a little more contentious as it looked like he may have touched the ball before felling Stephen Dooley, but the game was lost long before then.

Bohs welcome Sligo Rovers to Dalymount next Friday, hoping to bounce back straight away at the beginning of a big week that sees them play the Bit O’Red, St. Pats and Wexford Youths in the space of 7 days.

Cork City: Mark McNulty, Eoghan O’Connell, Alan Bennett, Kenny Browne, John Dunleavy, Greg Bolger, Gearóid Morrissey, Ian Turner (Karl Sheppard,75), Gavan Holohan (Steven Beattie, 68), Stephen Dooley (Colin Healy, 85), Sean Maguire. Subs not used: Mark O’Sullivan, Danny Morrissey, Michael McSweeney, Alan Smith.

Bohemians: Dean Delany, Derek Pender, Derek Prendergast, Anto Murphy (Eoin Wearen, 74), Lorcan Fitzgerald, Roberto Lopes, Keith Buckley, Paddy Kavanagh, Jake Kelly (Mark Quigley, 66), Kurtis Byrne, Ismahil Akinade (Dan Byrne, 86). Subs not used: Lee Steacy, Ayman Ben Mohamed, Adam Evans, Dylan Hayes.

BohemianFC.com Man of the Match: Ismahil Akinade

“We know it’s going to be a big challenge. It’s up to our players to rise to that and to enjoy the occasion. They need to embrace it and not be afraid to express themselves.”

Having been eclipsed by Dundalk for the league title two years in a row and again in last season’s FAI Cup final, there is expectation on Leeside.

John Caulfield’s side laid down a marker with a 2-0 President’s Cup win against Stephen Kenny’s Lilywhites last Saturday.

Long said: “Cork have been impressive in pre-season and the performance last week against Dundalk will be the barometer for them.

“But we can’t worry too much about Cork, we need to concentrate on our own performance.”

Exceeding expectations with a fifth-placed finish last year, the Gypsies’ form has gathered momentum again in recent weeks.

Having stuttered early in pre-season, Bohs come into this game on the back of two strong results: a 3-0 Leinster Senior Cup win away to Drogheda United and, most recently, a 4-1 friendly victory at home to Athlone Town last Saturday.

Long added: “Pre-season performances were mixed but the most important thing is that players are finding their feet now.”

Among those “finding their feet” are three new additions to the first team, strikers Kurtis Byrne and Mark Quigley, and midfielder Aymen Ben Mohamed, who signed from Dundalk, Derry City and Longford Town respectively.

Long added: “Kurtis has looked sharp. He will be a great addition to the team both in terms of goals and assists.

“Mark brings invaluable experience. As well as having great quality, he has matured and really wants to do well. He has the ability – and the guile and nous – to open up opposition teams.

“Aymen is a very technical player. He’ll have fans on the edge of their seats. They all add to what was already a good group of players who can’t wait to get started.”

Bohs have a full team to squad to select from and bolstering Long’s options is 38-year-old defender/midfielder Dave Mulcahy, who this week re-signed for a fifth season at the club.

MATCHDAY MEDIA LIAISON

• Be readily available in advance of home games
• Liaise with management team to produce/distribute team-sheets
• Liaise post-match with media for access to players/management for interviews

CLUBAPP UPDATER(S)

• Learn how to use ClubApp service
• ClubApp is a service paid for and branded by club sponsors Mr Green – we are expected to make maximum use of it
• Provide regular match updates on ClubApp, which in turn now generates our match-night twitter update service
• Run in-game twitter Mr Green Man of the Match poll

ASSISTANT WEBMASTER

• Update club news/fixtures/results on website (a user-friendly WordPress website) and social media as required by club

UNDER-19 TEAM CORRESPONDENT

• Liaise with team manager Graham Lawlor for latest news/match information for website/social media
• Keep website fixtures/results up to date
• Keep match details (line-ups/substitutions/goalscorers etc) up to date
• Provide matchday twitter updates when available – or seek to delegate to other match-goers
• Appeal for volunteer photographers to attend games

UNDER-17 TEAM CORRESPONDENT
(Same duties as above)

BACK-UP FIRST TEAM MATCH REPORTER(S)

• Kevin Fagan is our dedicated first-team match reporter – we need willing volunteers to step in on occasion when he is unavailable

ADDITIONAL MATCHDAY PHOTOGRAPHERS

• Eddie Lennon and Stephen Burke provide excellent photographs for the website/programme – it is important we still have pictures from games when either (or both) are unavailable

FEATURE WRITERS/PLAYER INTERVIEWER(S)

• - While the club programme produces excellent player/management inverviews, this is an area where our website is behind other clubs – we desperately need more player interviews/features etc and need both regular and occasional volunteers to help fill this void

ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL FEATURE WRITERS

• This is an area where we are ahead of other clubs – primarily down to the remarkable efforts of Gerry Farrell and Ciaran Priestley
• We have a uniquely rich history – explore it/write about it/promote it

MERCHANDISE PHOTOGRAPHER

• Harbinger/Sid Alcock provided a first-class new online store for the club last year – new club merchandise photos should look slick, uniform and professional to match the effort that went into this
• Liaise with shop volunteers to ensure photos of new merchandise are kept up to date at all times

FUNDRAISING TEAM LIAISON
Liaise with Jimmy O’Connor’s fundraising team to:

• Ensure lotto (and Christmas Draw) results are kept up to date on website/social media
• Push online sale of lotto and Christmas Draw and other fundraising initiatives on website/social media