Alan Reynolds says his Bohemians side will travel to Drogheda in confident mood but in no doubt about how hard they will have to work to maintain and build upon recent performances to send supporters happy once more.
Bohs come into the game on the back of two Dublin derby wins last week – the first a 3-0 away to Shelbourne 10 days ago, which was followed up with a 2-0 win against St Pat’s last Friday.
That win against Stephen Kenny’s side came despite Bohs playing the second half with only 10 men following the dismissal of Patrick Hickey just before the interval for a second yellow card.
Reynolds said: “The most pleasing thing about last week was the character we showed in both performances against two of the best teams in the country.
“We came into the week on the back of two difficult defeats and some soul-searching within the group. Questions were being asked of us but we rolled up our sleeves and showed how good we can be.
“The challenge for us now is to go and build on that. We want consistency but we know how hard we have to work to get it.
“We haven’t been happy with our performances in games at times this season and we feel we’ve dropped points where we should have won or at least drawn games, particularly in games where we’ve started well, taken the lead and then dropped points.
“There is a lot of quality in this league, but consistency has been an issue for a lot of good teams in the past couple of seasons. We just need to focus on ourselves – we ask questions of ourselves and the players all the time, and we are rightly self-critical.
“But we are also second in the table of a really competitive league and have given ourselves a good platform to build on.
“Last week was a week where we did a lot right and we want to push on and maintain those levels of performances. We’ve shown that we are well capable of the trickier side of the game – when we don’t have the ball and what we need to get it back and to limit the opposition’s opportunities.
“People who weren’t watching the game against Shelbourne might look at the scoreline and think we had it all our own way but Shels threw a lot at us in the second half but we stood up to that – bodies on the line, being clever when we weren’t in possession.
“Again, the game against St Pat’s last week, it was an even enough first half. Pat’s had their chances and were happy to have edged it 1-0 with Colly Whelan’s penalty.
“But when we went a man down before the break and given the quality of the opposition we were up against, I’m sure there were plenty of people watching thinking we’d struggle in the second half with a man down.
“We rolled up our sleeves once more and to a man, I think we were excellent. We limited St Pat’s opportunities as best we could, kept another clean sheet, and Ross Tierney adding a second towards the end was the icing on the cake.”
It was a big win at Dalymount Park for a side that at times have struggled at home despite currently having the best away record in the division this season.
Reynolds said: “Every time we take to the pitch, we want to send our fans home happy, particularly when we are home so we enjoy nights like we had last week when the fans lift the roof off the place.
“When the players get to experience an atmosphere like what we had last week, they want more of it but we know we have to give fans something to cheer about in the first place.
“Thankfully we did that last week and that’s the level of performance we need to continue to give to have more of it and to continue to build that rapport with the players.
“The place was bouncing, the supporters never let up and neither did the players. That togetherness between everyone at the club – supporters and players – is what we are striving for because when Dalymount gets like that, there’s no place better to play.
“We’ll need that again up in Drogheda again as it’s somewhere where teams can struggle. We always bring a big crowd up there, I know our section is sold out again and our fans always create a lot of noise in the shed, so it’s up to us now to build on last week and give everything of ourselves to make sure we send them home happy again.”
Team news
Pat Hickey is suspended, while Douglas James-Taylor is a doubt.
Bohs also come into the game with the news that Harry Vaughan has signed until the end of the season following the conclusion of his loan deal and contract with Hull, while Leigh Kavanagh has joined Galway United on loan until the end of the season.
