Alan Reynolds takes charge of Bohemians at Dalymount Park for the first time tomorrow night and is relishing the occasion of taking on his hometown club.
Reynolds’ first home game in charge sees him pitted against Waterford where he served as assistant manager until his arrival at Bohemians last week having previously had two stints as manager of the club.
And in the away dugout, Keith Long returns to manage a side in Dalymount Park for the first time since his near eight-year tenure as Bohs manager came to an end in August 2022.
Reynolds said: “We both have a job to do and it is important that we do everything we can to push on now and get the win, and I’ve no doubt Keith will be saying the same.
“But it will be a big moment for Keith coming back to Dalymount too, and I hope he gets the good reception he deserves here. He speaks very fondly of the club and has a lot of good memories from his time here.
“For me, I’m managing Bohemians in Dalymount for the first time against my hometown club, which is exciting and something I am relishing personally, even if there might be a few divided loyalties in the family!”
Bohs come into tomorrow’s game on the back of an impressive 2-0 win away to Galway United on Monday night thanks to goals from Jevon Mills and James Akintunde.
It was the perfect response to a disappointing Dublin derby defeat away to Shamrock Rovers on Friday where Bohs impressed in the first half but collapsed in the second, succumbing to a 3-1 defeat.
Reynolds said: “That was the conversation we had with the players and the challenge for them going into Monday’s game was to start strongly but to keep it going.
“Against Shamrock Rovers, we played well for 30/35 minutes but then let it drop, so the aim for us was to sustain a high level of performance for a lot longer and keep going.
“The players were disappointed with themselves on Friday night as they feel they are better than that. We got a good response from them on Monday and now we want to build on that.
“With three games in eight days we haven’t had the time we would like on grass to work on certain things with them and to help them get better, but it was a good response in Galway.
“There is an honest bunch there who want to improve, and who want to give their very best for Bohemians.”
Both goals against Galway came from headers after set-pieces delivered by Dayle Rooney – the first a free-kick met by Mills and the second a corner met by Akintunde.
Reynolds said: “I’d love to take credit for those but I have to give credit to Derek Pender and Trevor Croly. They’ve worked hard on them with the players and they worked hard on them for the week before I came in too.
“They were good deliveries from Dayle and the boys attacked them well. But we defended well too, which is something we really needed to improve on from the game against Rovers.
“Galway are a big, strong and physical side but we stood up to them and defended very well, and again I have to give a lot of credit to the coaching staff for the work they’ve been doing with the players to help us improve at the back.”
Reynolds was delighted to send the travelling crowd at Eamon Deacy Park home happy too after their disappointment in Tallaght three nights beforehand.
He added: “Before the game, Derek Pender spoke to the players and touched on the fans constantly travelling away from home in huge numbers, and the importance of repaying the support that they give the team every week.
“It was my first time taking charge of the team outside of Dublin but from listening to the staff and players, I know that fans of this club sell out their allocation everywhere we travel and create good noise wherever we play, so it is important for us as a team to send them home happy and with something to cheer about.
“We were delighted to be able to do that on Monday and now we want to do it again at home.”
Team news
Martin Miller and Bart Kukulowvicz come back into contention, while Filip Piszczek is rated doubtful.
But Bohs will be without Adam McDonnell and Dylan Connolly as well as long-term absentees Keith Buckley and Rob Cornwall.
