LIMERICK v BOHEMIANS
SSE Airtricity League, Jackman Park, Saturday 7 March, 6.30pm
Bohemians open their league campaign in Limerick with a determination to “play off the front foot”, according to manager Keith Long.
“The players are chomping at the bit and ready to get going,” Long said. “Playing Limerick away is going to be a tough test for us, and we’re under no illusion about that, but we’re looking forward to it.”
The Bohemian manager expects “a tough game” and Limerick to be “well organised and well up for it”.
“We want to go down and win. We will play off the front foot and get at them with fast, attacking football,” Long said.
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The manager considered his team “played well in patches” against Bray Wanderers in the Leinster Senior Cup. But he has been stressing the need for his players to take scoring chances.
“We should be more ruthless in front of goal. We created chances, particularly in the second half, and if we had taken those chances, we could have won by two or three.
“It will take composure from players in front of goal, and we need them to have that belief and confidence in themselves. But we have lads who are well used to scoring and we will need others to chip in.”
Long made up for a missed friendly last weekend, cancelled because of the weather, with a XI v XI match behind closed doors on Monday. “That was a small disruption to the programme, but we’re ready now.”
Bohemians will be missing three players through suspensions carried over from last season – Stephen Best, James O’Brien, and recently re-signed Conor Murphy, who comes back to Bohemians after a spell at Shelbourne.
Also out is long-term injured Dan Byrne, and Dave Mulcahy (calf injury), who is expected to return to training next week.
Team captain Derek Pender (knee) and Dean Kelly, who took a knock in a pre-season game, will face late fitness tests. Anto Murphy, who missed the Bray game through groin injury, is fit for selection.
