Heary felt keenly his players’ disappointment but observed that the depth of disappointment reflected their exceptional work-rate.

“The Rovers game is a good one to come at this point because we need to bounce back quickly. The lads know what is expected of them. They believe in what we are doing, and they know they are going in the right direction.”

Heary is not inclined to move players around, and even less to select himself, in order to strengthen the defence further.

He also saluted the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Dean Delany against Cork and in bringing off a series of top-class saves in earlier games, even against UCD when Bohemians conceded three goals.

“He’s a senior player and he’s stepping up to the plate,” said Heary of the only player in his squad to play all 24 league games this season.

Daniel Byrne made his Bohemian début against Cork City as a substitute on 80 minutes, having recently signed from Kilbarrack United. Heary was delighted for Byrne to get on for the club he supports as a fan. He expects the 20-year-old defender/midfielder to be a “vital part” of his plans for the rest of the season, as all the players in his squad fight for places.

For Friday the Bohemian manager must plan without former Shamrock Rovers player Karl Moore (suspended) and Ciaran Nangle (ankle injury), but Keith Buckley returns from suspension and Andy Mulligan from hamstring injury, giving Heary crucial choices to make in midfield.

“Karl has been brilliant for us in the last few matches. He’s a natural winger and you don’t get many of them these days,” said Heary. “But Andy Mulligan has that too, Keith Buckley is back, and Kevin Devaney can be a threat to the Rovers defence on the right. So we have options.”

Shamrock Rovers will be missing several leading players through suspension but Heary is keenly aware of the strength-in-depth of the rivals’ squad.

“We’ll focus on what team we think they will put out,” he said. “In these derbies, form goes out the window, as we have seen in the last few games against Rovers. It’ll be down to keeping our discipline and sticking to the game plan.

“This is massive for the club, massive for the fans and, particularly, it’s massive for the team.”

Forward Chris Lyons (bruised ribs) faces a late fitness test for Friday, though he trained this week. He has been joined in training by fellow-forward Eoin Rhodes, recently signed to Bohemians’ under-19 squad from Ross Celtic in Co. Wexford.

Rhodes featured in last month’s friendly against Glenavon and scored a hat-trick in an under-19s’ pre-season match against Baldoyle United. He is one of three recent under-19 recruits from Co. Wexford.

Bohemians will play a friendly in Ferns on Saturday in acknowledgement of the contributions to the club from that county.

This game is simple. There are 20 tickets available for sale at €25 each. Each ticket represents a team from the English Premier League.

When all 20 tickets are sold, the teams will be drawn at random and assigned to players. The first team to score exactly nine goals within consecutive games wins the prize.

It is NOT the first team to score nine goals. For example, if Everton start their game and have seven goals scored in their previous games and they win 3-0, the player assigned that team does not win the prize.

But if they win 2-0, then they will be the winning team.

If two teams both reach the nine-goal point after the same amount of games played (kick-off time is irrelevant) then the next team to reach nine goals wins. The winning team must have a unique goals scored column of nine.

If no team reaches nine goals then whoever gets to 19 goals (then 29 etc) under the same criteria will be the winning team.

50% of the pot, €250, will go to the winner and €250 will go to Bohemian FC.

Any questions can be emailed to lastmanstandingbohs@gmail.com. Many thanks for supporting this fundraiser.

“The training has been high-tempo because of the frustration. They know they are well capable of winning games, if they can eradicate those mistakes.”

Heary takes hope from his team’s performance. “We created chances, we got a lot of bodies forward, and UCD never threatened us in open play.

“We scored early on, we were in control of the game, and we had another chance soon afterwards. If we had got the goal later to go 2-all, I’m sure we would have gone on and won the game.”

The caretaker manager, also one of the league’s most experienced defenders, has been addressing the team’s problem of “not reacting to the second ball” when the first attempt on goal has been defended.

“It’s a mental thing, being determined that you’re not going to let the man you’re marking score,” he said. “That’s the difference between the teams at the top and teams at the bottom. The teams at the top are quicker to react and make sure the opposition don’t get on to the second ball.”

Last March in Turner’s Cross, Bohemians went ahead when Heary was first to a Ryan McEvoy corner at the near post. But Bohemians could not hold the lead, losing 2-1, and the scoreline was the same when the teams met in May in Dalymount Park.

Cork have lost four of the players who featured in those matches and, like Bohemians, changed manager following a run of poor results. Friday’s match will be Stuart Ashworth’s first league game in charge.

Heary knows Ashworth as a “good manager” through the under-19 league but he is hoping Friday’s opposition don’t get the new-manager bounce, that has been observed elsewhere in the league.

Midfielders Dave Mulcahy and Ryan McEvoy return from injury but Chris Lyons (bruised ribs), Andy Mulligan (hamstring), Stephen Doran (ankle) and Keith Buckley (suspended) are not available.

Heary is confident his players’ efforts will yield results. “The fans could see last week that the players are working hard and playing for the shirt. We have to play to win,” he said.