Alan Reynolds says Bohemians’ performances in recent weeks are a cause of optimism but says they will have to improve even further to get past UCD in their Sports Direct Men’s FAI Cup quarter-final at the UCD Bowl tomorrow.
Bohs go into the game after what many fans feared would be a gruelling run of league fixtures, with home and away encounters against table toppers Shelbourne sandwiched either side of a Dublin derby against Shamrock Rovers.
But Bohs shared the points with Shels on both occasions, and claimed all three at home to Rovers.
Reynolds’ side went into that run under pressure on the back of a bruising 3-2 home defeat against Waterford having led 2-0, and needed penalties to get past Kerry in their last-16 tie in the FAI Cup.
And that result in Tralee alone will have focused the minds ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Belfield to take on William O’Connor’s Students, who are flying high in the First Division in second place, eyeing promotion through the play-offs and who went to the Showgrounds and claimed a 2-0 win against Sligo Rovers in the last round.
Reynolds said: “We are pleased with our performances over the last number of weeks but there is nobody in there patting ourselves on the back.
“We still have a lot of work to do, and we were disappointed we couldn’t turn those draws against Shelbourne into wins because I think we are top in both.
“But they were very good performances, with a lot of good play and positives to take out of all three games, and I think that our supporters can see now what we are capable of and we are all working towards.
“This will be another difficult game though. We are coming up against a very good team in UCD, and we will have to improve our performances even further because they are a confident side, in good form and flying high in the First Division.
“They have excellent young players and they have experience there too. You only have to look at their result away to Sligo Rovers in the last round to see how good they are, so we have analysed them extensively, and we know we will have to respect them.
“They are at home, they will have looked back at our game against Kerry and will be looking at this game as another big opportunity for them, so it is up to us to be at the very top of our game.”
Reynolds will be without the suspended Dawson Devoy after he picked up yellow cards in both the previous rounds as the FAI today confirmed that the Independent Appeal Committee rejected Shamrock Rovers’ latest appeal regarding his eligibility for Bohs’ second-round win in July.
But Bohs will also be without midfielder Adam McDonnell and striker Filip Piszczek, who are both sidelined with ankle injuries, with Reynolds adding: “It’s disappointing for both of them. Adam has been a really important player for us over the last while, and he’s been really in form.
“He was forced off against Shels last week and the good news is that it is not as bad as it looked on the night, but he will still be out for a number of weeks, and it is a big blow for us losing a player of his quality.
“It’s very unfortunate for Filip too. He got a really important goal for us against Shamrock Rovers two weeks ago and he wanted to build on that but he took a knock to his ankle later in the game and unfortunately that is going to rule him out for a number of weeks now too.
“So we are missing important players in Dawson, Adam and Filip, and we need those who come into the team to step up to the challenge now. We’ve had a positive couple of weeks but we need to build on that.
“We’ll bring another massive crowd over with us for this game and everyone comes into the team, and everyone on the pitch and off it, knows how big this game is for us. We all have our part to play.”
Team news
Dawson Devoy is suspended, and Bohemians are also without Adam McDonnell and Filip Piszczek, who are both suffering with ankle injuries. Rob Cornwall and Keith Buckley remain out.
