Alan Reynolds says his Bohemians side are striving to deliver the level of consistency to build on the platform they have given themselves this season.
Bohs go into this weekend’s game against Derry City level on points with Tiernan Lynch, with the Candystripes one place ahead with a marginally better goal difference.
Reynolds’ men come into the game after a frustrating 1-0 defeat away to Drogheda United last week.
Bohs bossed the first half, had the ball in the back of the net only to be ruled offside, and thereafter couldn’t find a way past the Drogs defence.
They then came unstuck on the hour-mark as Douglas James-Taylor scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot.
While the Gypsies were cursing their luck in front of goal as they went home empty-handed, they received a rapturous applause from the travelling support at the end of the game.
Reynolds said: “It was similar to the Waterford game at the start of the month in that we came off the pitch absolutely kicking ourselves that we didn’t get anything from the game because we really felt we should have.
“We were excellent in the first half, played some really, really good stuff, but ultimately we need to be scoring, and asking more questions of defenders and the goalkeeper, when we have those periods of dominance.
“Then we give away the penalty then in the second half and that makes life difficult for ourselves as Drogheda are a really hard team to break down when you give them a goal to defend as we saw previously when they came to Dalymount.
“That said, even in the second half, while our performance wasn’t as good as the first half, we created chances that we should have put away.
“So we’re frustrated with that, but again judging by the reception the players got from the fans after the game, they know that they gave everything of themselves to get back into the game.
“We’re striving to get to the level of consistency of performance and result we want to build on the platform we’ve given ourselves, so the result was disappointing. But there was plenty in our performance to be pleased about too. We draw a line under it and look to the next one, which again is going to be a really tough game.”
The last time Bohs played Derry, there was very little between the sides in February as Michael Duffy’s 25-yard free-kick after just 10 minutes decided a scrappy game that was ruined as a spectacle by heavy rain and high winds.
Reynolds said: “They’ve beaten us already this season but I wouldn’t read too much into that game. Derry have improved a lot since then but I think we have improved a lot since then too.
“That was only the second game of the season and a lot has happened, a lot of improvement at both clubs I feel, in the three months since, so it should be a competitive game.
“We know what we are up against. We’ve watched a lot of Derry and they are a really good side with really good players. They’ve players who have done it at the highest level in this league before, the manager has been backed this season in terms of strengthening further and there’s expectation at the club for them to challenge this season.
“But again we are focused on ourselves. This game will mark the halfway point of the season. We were disappointed with our return in the first series of games but we have worked really hard to reverse that in the second series of games so this will be a huge test for us to see if we can keep that going against one of the best teams in the country.”
Team newsÂ
Alex Lacey (hamstring) is out, Connor Parsons (hamstring) is a doubt but Lys Mousset (Achilles) is back in contention.