Alan Reynolds says his Bohemians players need to channel the frustration they felt on Thursday evening into delivering against Waterford tomorrow afternoon.
Bohs received plenty of deserved plaudits for their performance and game-plan against FC Midtjylland but there was no denying the sense of disappointment among the players as they left the pitch at Tallaght Stadium after a 2-0 defeat in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League qualifier.
They are in no mood to throw in the towel ahead of the return leg in Herning on Thursday but before attention turns to that, Reynolds’ men are focused on getting back to winning ways in the league as they travel down to the RSC on Sunday afternoon to take on in-form Waterford.
Reynolds said: “This is a massive game for us so we don’t have the luxury of feeling sorry for ourselves, we’re fully focused on Waterford now. We know how big a game it is and how important it is for us to get a result.
“You could see on the players’ faces on Thursday how disappointed they were. We all were. None of them should be disappointed about their performance – to a man they were brilliant and that was acknowledged by the incredible reception our lads got from our supporters after the game – but we are all obviously disappointed that we couldn’t get the result we wanted and the result that I think our performance deserved.
“We were playing against a team with serious pedigree in European football. After a cagey first 10 or 15 minutes, we were excellent after that. We created some great chances, and as a group our players really rose to the challenge.
“Unfortunately small fine margins cost us – we were agonisingly close with a couple of chances, were a man down when they scored first, we had a penalty overruled by VAR and the second goal we conceded was from a soft free-kick.
“The shift our lads put in deserved a slice of luck on those small margins but we didn’t get it. That’s football, it can be cruel at times but we have to take it on the chin, dust ourselves down and focus on our next job. We have another shot at them on Thursday but that’s not our focus right now. Our focus is on Waterford.
“We want to continue to play in Europe, we want many more nights with our fans like we have enjoyed over the past number of weeks. But to get back into Europe we need to roll up our sleeves for every game we play between now and the end of the season, so we are fully focused on getting a result down in Waterford, and any frustration we are feeling from Thursday needs to be channelled in the right way to spur us on now.
“We left points behind us last week against Galway, despite an excellent performance, so we need to knuckle down now and give everything of ourselves to get the right result against Waterford.”
Waterford may sit second from bottom in the table, but that does not tell the full story. Prior to Graham Coughlan’s arrival as manager at the start of May, they were without a win and favourites for relegation.
They are a different beast now, however. Unbeaten in five games, they are one of the form teams in the division and have won five of Coughlan’s 12 games in charge to move out off the bottom of the table.
Reynolds said: “We’ve had tough games against Waterford already this season and they’re now a considerably improved team than when we played them before, so we are under no illusions about how tough a game this will be. We’ll need everyone right at it, and we’ll need our fans right behind us again as well.
“A lot of people had written Waterford off but they’ve shown how good a team they are since Graham has come in. They’ve beaten some of the best teams in the league so this is a massive test for us and one we really need to be at our best for.”
While one Devoy was on the scoresheet for Bohs at the RSC already this weekend – Alex in the 2-2 draw in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division today – her namesake Dawson will be watching from the stands tomorrow as a result of cumulative yellow cards.
Reynolds added: “Dawson is our captain for a reason, and is one of the first names on the teamsheet every week for a reason too.
“Not having him available would be a blow for any team, so we need others to step up, to lead and to drive the team forward.”
Team news
Captain Dawson Devoy is suspended.
Tickets
Tickets remain available here: https://waterfordfc.ticketco.events/ie/en/e/waterford_fc_v_bohemians_away_fans