DERRY CITY v BOHEMIANS (Friday July 28th, The Brandywell, 745pm)
Bohemians return to action with back-to-back games against Derry City in the Airtricity League and EA Sports Cup on Friday and Monday.
Manager Aaron Callaghan took the opportunity of the season break to develop strategies with his squad for the remainder of the season.
“Sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees, so we took time to reflect on where we’re going,” he said. “Our highest priority is to put a league run together, ensure we stay in the Premier Division and finish as high up as possible. We know we have to improve, and we have to improve our home form particularly.”
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Focusing on the club’s league position means that chasing a possible trophy in the EA Sports Cup takes second place.
“We’ll go to Derry knowing that three points would give us a huge lift. But to come away with a point would be fantastic,” said Callaghan.
“We have to take heart from the fact that UCD went up there and won and we had a good result in Sligo a few weeks back.”
Bohemians have secured notable draws on their travels, in Tallaght, Inchicore, Drogheda and Sligo. “Our home form has been baffling at times. We don’t seem to start games well at home and we need to address that,” said Callaghan.
“But we’ve had some fantastic results away from home. The young lads have stepped up to the mark and we’ll be asking them to do it again.”
Bohemians will have to rely even more than usual on the younger players as they will likely be without their three most experienced players for Friday. Owen Heary has a recurrence of his hip injury, Dave Mulcahy has been out of training with a virus, and Derek Pender is suspended due to his sending-off two weeks ago against Shelbourne.
There are also doubts that Dave Scully (ankle), Ryan McEvoy (virus), Stephen Traynor (ankle) or Kevin O’Leary (virus) will be fit for selection.
Callaghan is aiming to refresh his squad in the transfer window from next week. Ahead of that, Shane Fitzgerald and Dwayne Wilson have been released.
The manager is looking to let several more go, and is “actively pursuing the chances to bring in three or four lads, to ensure we strengthen in those areas where we need to most”.
