Bohemians are looking to bounce back with victory against Dundalk at Dalymount Park tonight.
Keith Long’s side were left kicking themselves on Sunday as they squandered a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 away to Sligo Rovers.
It was a set-back after three wins in a row prior to that, and after a sense that the summer recruits were really beginning to click.
Tonight will be another difficult challenge in what is, remarkably, Long’s side’s first game in Dalymount Park in 42 days.
Long said: “Dundalk are a competitive team who are in good form and have quality players throughout their squad.
“It will be a very difficult game and we will need to perform at our highest level if we are to get the points we require after what was a good return from games away from home until Sunday’s result in Sligo.
“We should have won that game – we had complete control until they scored and after that we imploded. There are no excuses – the final 25 minutes were not good enough. Especially disappointing was the fact that we brought huge numbers to Sligo and we let our fans down.
“We should have won but now we have given ourselves a mountain to climb again in terms of securing European football through the league.
“There will be lots of twists and turns before the end of season but Sunday was a real opportunity squandered to close the gap on the teams above us.”
Bohs’ last game on their home patch was the 3-2 defeat to Derry City on July 1. There have been nine additions to the squad since then, all of whom will be aiming to impress in front of the Jodi Stand faithful this evening should they be given an opportunity to do so.
Jonathan Afolabi (Celtic), who made his debut off the bench on Sunday, was the ninth summer arrival following the additions of Ryan Burke (Mansfield Town), James Clarke (Drogheda United), Laurenz Dehl (Union Berlin, loan), Josh Kerr (Airdrieonians), Declan McDaid (Dundee), Jon McCracken (Norwich City, loan) John O’Sullivan (Accrington Stanley) and Ethon Varian (Stoke City).
Long said: “Some of the new signings are very much a work in progress and it will take time to find their full match fitness and adapt to the league.
“With 19 players coming and going in this transfer window there has been a huge turnover in personnel.
“Those players coming into the club are on longer term deals and we hope that will provide more stability going forward.
“The most successful or best performing teams have much more stable squads than the least competitive ones.
“It is our aim to have minimal player movement at the end of every season to a point where we might only be adding three to four additions every winter to improve the squad.
“I believe we have gone a long way towards this and we can move forward with more stability and confidence with less of a player drain that we have experienced over the last number of seasons.
“But of more immediate concern is Dundalk. It has been a long time since we have played in Dalymount, for many players it will be their first taste of playing in front of the Jodi, and we want to put in a display our fans can be proud of.”
TEAM NEWS
James Talbot (shoulder) and Jordan Flores (hamstring) remain out, while Jamie Mullins and James McManus are doubts.
