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As seen in recent games, his squad has bought into that approach fully. They faced Shamrock Rovers with a depleted squad: Steven Beattie and Roberto Lopes played 90 minutes despite being weakened by flu and finished “flat-out”.

“We work hard for each other. We close down the team facing us. We work as a unit. People can see the transformation since the start of the season,” said Heary.

“I thought we deserved the three points on Tuesday, but before the match, knowing we were down a lot of bodies, we would have taken the one point.”

Paddy Kavanagh and Keith Buckley covered very effectively for injured Kevin Devaney (toe) and suspended Eoin Wearen respectively.

“It was a very disciplined performance by the team. They were aggressive, they were on the front foot from the word ‘go’,” said Heary.

Strong tackles early in the game set the tone for Bohemians’ performance. “That’s what the game is missing at times. You should be allowed make aggressive tackles. There was nothing malicious there. I think referees are seeing that strong tackles can be good tackles, and they’re letting them go.”

Bohemians have overtaken Limerick in the league table but Heary expects another stiff test for his players, who also face a trip to Inchicore next Tuesday.

Limerick manager Martin Russell watched Bohemians in their last two league games and will have his team well prepared.

“We have beaten Limerick twice this year, in the cup and in the league. But they are like ourselves, they work hard and they have some strong, physical players. It will be another battle,” said Heary.

For Friday, Eoin Wearen and Jake Hyland return from suspension and Craig Walsh has served his ban but he is likely to be out with a quad injury. Kevin Devaney (toe) and Dan Byrne (cruciate) remain out.

Anto Murphy, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury, was on the bench on Tuesday and was trying to come on in added time for one of his trade-mark long throws. He is likely to a sub again on Friday as he continues to regain fitness

Coming off a difficult cup defeat to St Pats and a dour draw with Athlone, Bohs were definitely the better side against their supposedly more illustrious visitors. Pat Fenlon’s team produced a Stoke-esque display of long ball punting, and Dean Delany only had to make one save all night. Unfortunately for the home side, his 84th minute penalty save fell straight to Shane Robinson – who cancelled out Derek Pender’s fantastic opener.

Despite Heary’s pre-game talk of playing some fringe players, only Keith Buckley would be considered in that bracket for the Bohs starting 11. He partnered Dave Mulcahy in midfield, with Paddy Kavanagh in front of them in a 4-4-1-1 formation. Bohs started the game well, displaying an intensity that you would associate with this fixture. An early corner floated all the way to the back post, but Dinny Corcoran couldn’t quite make meaningful contact. The Jodi Stand thought it was in, but the angle was deceiving – and Rovers cleared.

Luke Byrne’s move to Shamrock Rovers and subsequent Twitter tomfoolery has left a bad taste in many a Bohs mouth, and there was mass joy when Pender clattered the former Bohs left back on 10 minutes. Byrne had a poor game, struggled to cope with Steven Beattie, and could be easily blamed for the Bohs goal when it arrived. Rovers themselves offered little going forward in the first half. Despite their finances, B-teams, stadium etc, when the most oft-used option is Jason McGuinness lumping balls forward – it isn’t pretty to watch.

Bohs continued to press into the second half, and Dave Mulcahy went close with a looping header before the game exploded into life on 65 minutes. Beautiful interplay from Beattie and Kavanagh put Pender in on the right flank. The full back beat his man and let fly with a rocket of a shot which, despite the tight angle, screamed into the roof of Barry Murphy’s net.

The Gypsies looked relatively comfortable until the 84th minute, when Roberto Lopes hung out a leg and sub Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters went down. It was right on the corner of the box, but referee Paul Tuite pointed instantly to the spot. Dean Kelly took the penalty, put placed it weakly to Delany’s left. The Bohs keeper palmed it away, but Shane Robinson was on hand to fire in the rebound. Bohs could have won it late on, but Steven Beattie’s glancing header was brilliantly turned around the post by Murphy. A share of the spoils – and just to confirm – the pitch was absolutely fine!

Bohemians; Dean Delany, Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Aidan Price, Jack Memery, Steven Beattie, Dave Mulcahy, Keith Buckley, Karl Moore, Paddy Kavanagh, Dinny Corcoran. Subs not used: Ryan McEvoy, Jason Byrne, Anto Murphy, Adam Evans, Stephen Best, Paddy Collins, Aaron Shanahan.

Shamrock Rovers; Barry Murphy, Simon Madden, Conor Kenna, Jason McGuinness, Luke Byrne, Shane Robinson, Sean O’ Connor (Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, 53), Ryan Brennan (Stephen McPhail, 68), Gary McCabe (Dean Kelly, 80), Ronan Finn, Ciaran Kilduff. Subs not used: Robert Cornwall, Karl Sheppard, Patrick Cregg, Craig Hyland.

Mr. Green Bohemian Man of the Match: Dave Mulcahy

Heary will not want to take chances with players who are less than fully fit, as he expects the derby to be “pacey” and “asking a lot of the players”.

“It will be a chance for other players to come in and play for their positions. Hopefully, they’ll take that opportunity,” he said.

Ryan McEvoy and Keith Buckley, ‘veterans’ of many Bohs-Rovers games, are likely to feature. “Bucko is a good player and he’s a bit unfortunate that Kevin Devaney has been playing so well. But Bucko knows what to expect coming into a game like Tuesday’s. He has that bit of experience.”

Heary thought his side were “unfortunate not to get three points” from Friday’s “scrappy enough” game in Athlone. “But our attitude was right going into the game and we took the game to them.  We need to have the same attitude on Tuesday.”

“But the positive thing for me was that we didn’t go out with a whimper. We gave it everything.”

Bohemians are now fully concentrated on securing maximum points from the remaining league games to secure at least a mid-table finish.

“Last year the target was to avoid relegation, this year eighth or better, next year we’ll be aiming to go higher. If we can keep the basis of the team we now have for next season, we can improve further.”

Training has focused on set-pieces as half of the ten goals conceded in the last four games have come that source.

“We tidied up on that during the year, so it’s disappointing that we conceded from set pieces in recent games when we were well in the game or getting back into it,” said Heary. “That’s down to a lack of concentration and maybe thinking we’re safe.”

Bohemians face an Athlone side with a target to make it into the play-offs at worst. “Athlone have done well over recent weeks, they’ve turned a corner and I’m they’ll be fired up for Friday,” said Heary.

All Bohemians’ opponents in the coming games, including next Tuesday’s opposition, Shamrock Rovers, still with European ambitions, have something to fight for. “We have all the top teams, bar Dundalk, to play and I’m sure the fans would like to see us compete against these teams.”

For Friday Bohemians will be without Eoin Wearen (suspended), Ryan McEvoy (back injury), Dan Byrne (cruciate) and Anto Murphy (ankle). However, Murphy has returned to training and may make it back for next weekend.

His return would be a boost to the team, which has had to be shuffled and reshuffled to cover for absences at the back. Last Friday Steven Beattie was at left back, having earlier played at right back, on the wing and in attack.

“He has played every position except in goal. With our resources, those are kind of players we have to sign, who can play in numerous positions,” said Heary. Along with Beattie, Derek Pender, Kevin Devaney, Dave Mulcahy, Roberto Lopes and Keith Buckley are among those who have featured in two positions or more.

“It will be a difficult game. They are in form themselves, not conceding goals. It’s a big ask for the lads but it’s one that they are all geared towards. When you come to the quarter-final stages, it’s all up for grabs.”

In three matches this season it has been honours even: Bohemians won at Dalymount in the EA Sports Cup, St Pat’s won at Inchicore in the league and the sides drew at Dalymount in their league encounter two months ago.

“For the club, this is massive,” said Heary. “If we get through to the semi-final, it’s extra finance and we can start thinking about getting to Europe, and that would be really massive, not only for the fans.”

Bohemians come to Friday’s game from a 3-2 defeat in Sligo on Monday. But Heary takes comfort from his side’s performance and believes they deserved something from the game.

“We were unfortunate not to get a result. A poor refereeing decision probably cost us getting something from the game,” he said. “We played extremely well, created a lot of chances and we could have scored more.”

Dave Mulcahy and Jason Byrne were rested on Monday and Eoin Wearen served an automatic suspension for his red card the previous Friday.

All three are available for the cup tie and they, along with Dinny Corcoran, Kevin Devaney and Karl Moore, who were on the bench for the first 70 minutes against Sligo, may be starters. Only long-term injuries, Anto Murphy (ankle) and Dan Byrne (cruciate), are ruled out.

The Sligo game was an opportunity for Heary to give game-time to other players whom he expects to call on again before the end of the season. Adam Evans (20) and Jake Hyland (19) made their first starts in the league and Hyland scored, bringing his tally to four goals in four games for the senior team. “Jake’s a good player and he’ll probably get more game-time this season,” said Heary.

Paddy Kavanagh returned to the starting line-up after a spell on the bench and was “excellent”.

Bohemians bring strong cup form and away form to Friday’s derby. They had three wins in the EA Sports Cup before going out, and they have beaten Premier Division opposition twice to get to the FAI Cup quarter-finals.

Bohemians have maintained a positive goal difference in away league matches, a record shared only with the top four in the table. They have had four of their seven league victories on the road.

Improved form in recent weeks is stirring interest in some Bohemian players. “That’s a killer, because we can’t compete with the top teams and we don’t want to be starting fresh again,” said Heary.

“If we do get to a cup final we might have that bit extra to help us keep more players.”