Sunday’s match kicks off at 6pm in Tallaght Stadium. Tickets are still on sale. The watch will be shown live on LOITV.
Our European journey ended in gut-wrenching fashion on Thursday, losing 5-4 on penalties to Molde. Is this more difficult to take than losing the title on the last day of the season last November?
“It is a hard one to take. We’ve had our staff review on the Molde game, we go through all our metrics on it so we’re not emotional thinking about it, and how we performed, and if we should’ve gone through. All the metrics tell us what we felt that we were the better team over both legs and we deserved to go through. But unfortunately, in life and in football, you don’t always get what you deserve, and we’ve got to take that on the chin. We’ve got to try and learn from it as best we can and be better for it going forward and we will be. But right now, it is a hard one to take.”
Given your inexperienced options on the bench against Molde, did you feel you needed to leave as many experienced players on the pitch for as long as possible? Despite visible fatigue, they dug deep and found more to try get that goal.
“We did try to leave the players that have been there and experienced similar situations before, on the pitch, as it does count for a lot in those sorts of games. But we also knew we had quality on the bench to come on. It was just about getting them on at the right moment and at the right time. I thought the boys who came on were excellent, really very good. But I also felt the boys on the pitch were brilliant. I said on the night I was extremely proud of them, and we should be as a club, and I still feel that today. They gave us everything and, as a club and as staff and fans, that’s all we can ask, that they give everything, and they did. Could we have taken one or two of our chances, of course, but in terms of their desire and application they were top class.”
There are always positives even in such a heartbreaking European exit. Michael Noonan, Victor Ozhianvuna, Cory O’Sullivan and John O’Sullivan have shown exceptional maturity to go with their exceptional talent. You must be very excited for their futures.
“Yes, and it’s a reason we haven’t brought in more bodies on top of what we already brought in. We don’t want to block their paths. We feel that they’re ready. You look at Cian Barrett and John O’Sullivan who went out on loan last year and young Cory, Victor and Michael who has come in. We feel they’re ready to play and young Max Kovalevskis is ready to come back after his knee injury. When you look at the squad, we’ve good players in positions, but as I said, you don’t want to block the paths of the ones who are ready to play and are good enough. So, we feel they’re both. We feel it’s time to give them their head and I think they’re showing that right now, that they’re earning it and are ready.”
But as is always the case, it’s on to the next game, our first home league game of the season against Cork City. Dan Cleary and Dylan Watts will return so it’s good opportunity to get Molde out is our system early and not dwell on the disappointment.
“We have to. I think I’ve always said, that one of the biggest strengths of this group is moving on, whether we win, lose or draw. That’s genuinely what we do. We review it quickly, understand it and move on quickly. You haven’t got time to dwell. If you hang on to things for a period of time, before you know it the next game is here, and you haven’t prepared properly and you’re not ready. These players will move on, I’ve no doubt about that.”
Cork City got a 2-2 draw in their first league game at home to Galway United. What are you expecting from them after their season in Division 1 last season?
“It’ll be a tough game. You just have to look at their front two, Seán Maguire and Ruairí Keating and know they’re a threat, can score goals and will cause problems. Those two are as good as any you’ll get in the country, so we know they’re a real threat and we’ll see that tomorrow. We need to be right at it and nullify them as much as possible. Cork will be well organised and will come with a game plan to try and win the game and when you have Maguire and Keating, you’ll always have a chance. So, we need to be right at it.”
Who misses out this weekend due to injury and are you hoping Rory Gaffney might be involved?
“Rory will be involved; he’s doing well which is great. I’d imagine Jack Byrne could be a push to be involved for next week (Shelbourne away). We got the all clear for Trevor Clarke on Thursday so we’re hoping to push Trevor as well. Darragh Nugent is another week to ten days, we’re waiting for his nose injury to settle down and it’s making real progress. We’ll check on Adam Matthews today, Danny Mandroiu is out for another two to three weeks. Those who came off against Molde are fine, there was tightness down to the heavy early schedule. They covered a lot of distance, but they’re ok.”
