SLIGO ROVERS v BOHEMIANS
SSE Airtricity League, The Showgrounds, Saturday 14 May 2016, 7.45pm
Keith Long has told Bohemians they need to show more desire in front of goal to end their goalless and winless streak.
Despite periods of possession and dominance in recent games, the Gypsies have gone 591 minutes without scoring.
Bohs’ last goal and win came in the 2-0 victory away to Bray Wanderers on April 9 and Long is determined to rectify that at The Showgrounds tomorrow.
Long said: “We can’t be waiting for the perfect pass or the perfect opportunity in front of goal as it may never come – we need to show more desire in front of goal and make things happen for ourselves.”
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Bohs will be without striker Mark Quigley, who is suspended after his red card in Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat to Cork City.
But the Gypsies’ options up front have been boosted by the return of Ismahil Akinade, who had been sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Akinade featured as a substitute against Cork and is in contention for a starting place for the first time in four weeks.
Long said: “Izzy hadn’t been right for a few weeks so we needed to give him time to recover. He offers us a different dimension to our play and a different dynamic up front.”
Bohs’ bid to end their barren run saw Jake Kelly and Kurtis Byrne restored to the starting line-up against Cork City.
Long said: “We tried to bring some positivity to our attacking play by bringing in Jake and Kurtis in central areas. There were positive signs early on in the game with good movement and interchanging of positions but we lacked end product.
“We conceded a poor goal at a bad time and we allowed Cork see out the game far too comfortably.
“We were the home team and we should have been bringing the game to them after we conceded but we didn’t do that, which is disappointing.”
A Kurtis Byrne wonder goal gave Bohs a 1-0 victory against tomorrow’s opposition the last time the sides met.
But Dave Robertson’s men are a much-improved side since. Before Tuesday’s defeat away to Shamrock Rovers, the Bit O’Red had won their previous three games in a row.
Long added: “I’ve been very impressed with Sligo any time I’ve seen them. They will be playing with real confidence, despite the result in Tallaght.
“But we have to concentrate on our own performances. We are not a million miles off getting it right and with a little more belief and hard work we can improve our league standing”
Bohs are without Quigley (suspended) and Jason Caffrey (hamstring). Ayman Ben Mohamed (groin) is a doubt.
