All Eyes on Dundalk | OneFootball

Two defeats in four days mean that Shelbourne must find a reaction and weaponise their hurt and disappointment as they travel to Dundalk on Friday. Head Coach John Russell reflected on the deflating home games with ShelsTV: “It was a really frustrating weekend. Prior to it we had been building some momentum with some good performances, so to get hit with a last-minute goal on the Friday and ultimately come away with no points from Monday as well was difficult for everyone. It’s in these moments that you learn about players, and for me as a manager and as a staff we must bounce back. We’ve seen a good reaction this week in training, and we need to bring that into tomorrow’s game.”

Russell was adamant that the players and the staff understand the work that needs to be done and that they will not shirk from it: “They understand the magnitude of the situation. There were some harsh words spoken in the dressing room on Friday night and they do realise the severity of the situation and that we do need to turn the corner. And that’s our objective on Friday night; to put our best foot forward and have our top players stepping up and performing. We need to fight for one another and to run for one another. I think if we can do all of those things we can get the three points.”

Shels’ plans were not helped by the very early exit of Sean Boyd due to injury on Monday night. Russell gave an update on the striker’s situation and on the rest of the squad’s fitness: “I was delighted to have Sean back and unfortunately he got a bad bang on Monday. He’s due to get a scan today so hopefully he gets some good news and maybe he could make the bench. We’re looking at having Sam (Bone) involved in the squad for next week’s game in Galway as well as Marco (Untergrabner) and maybe even John (Martin) as well. Obviously, they’re three big men who could help us.”

The Reds’ home form has been a source of consternation for the entire season, and the Head Coach addressed the anger that greeted the final whistle on Monday night: “I totally understand it. This football club has lost too many matches. I’ve lost too many matches since I’ve come in. There have been some decent performances, but we haven’t come out the right side of enough games. However, we turn that around by sticking together and by working hard. It’s in the tough times that you really learn about people and their characters. For us we need to get back to basics and to show our supporters that we are willing to run hard, fight for each other and to roll our sleeves up and show a level of performance that represents the fanbase and the club.”

Despite results not going Shels’ way, the margin of defeat has always been the narrowest possible. Russell reflected on that, and how they go about turning the fine margins in their favour: “That’s what we’re striving for. Making sure that we run that extra yard forward or run that extra yard back when necessary. Making good decisions are important, but we need to stay calm when things go against us. We need to be able to trust the process, trust our quality and to remove the shackles and play without fear. It’s been a tough season for everyone; but the key message now for the last six games is – when things go against us, you need to stick your chest out and not go under. Once we get that first win it will be a weight off the players’ shoulders and off the fans’ shoulders. Hopefully that can happen tomorrow and we can have a strong end to the season.”

Kick-off at Oriel Park is at 7:45pm and the game is live on LOITV.