Duff looking for 100 min performance | OneFootball

The Reds are on the road again this Friday as they make the trip to Tallaght Stadium to face Shamrock Rovers (8pm KO, LOITV). Damien Duff’s side will be looking to continue a strong recent run which includes back to back wins over St Pats on Monday at Richmond Park, following last Friday’s 1-0 victory over Waterford FC at Tolka Park.

Duff delivered a squad update to ShelbourneFC.ie after training on Thursday and said: “The first two days, it was all just recover, recover, recover. Start prepping for Rovers, we had a good session today. Shane Griffin is back and available for selection. “We’re carrying a few niggles from Monday; we’ll assess everyone tomorrow but expect to be going there with everyone, bar Liam Burt who obviously is not eligible to play. Will Jarvis is fine, he’s made of tough stuff, a Yorkshire lad, adopted by Dublin. He’s one of us now. He’ll be ready.”

Duff feels the nature of Monday’s win over Pats will help get the energy levels replenished:

“Lads performed well. Still if we didn’t get the winner, it would’ve been a good point against difficult opposition and a solid manager. We would’ve bounced in regardless, that’s how this group goes. Listen I said it and I mean it, one of the great things in the world not just football is a last minute winner. We enjoyed the moment, but we absolutely parked 30 seconds after the game. Since then, just recovery and staff preparing for Rovers, everything else that came before won’t matter tomorrow night. It’s a tough game and we know that.”

Evan Caffrey was the hero on Monday, coming off the bench to net the last minute winner at Richmond Park. The Reds have scored 5 goals from players who’ve come off the bench this season, no team has more in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Duff feels their squad depth will be vital as the season progresses:

“It’s brilliant, nice to know we have that firepower on the bench and people who can affect games. Some people point fingers, pundits etc saying we don’t have strength in depth, but that stat would argue the opposite.”

Ahead of the trip to Tallaght and reflecting on previous meetings with the Hoops, Duff said: “We’ve played well in spells there. They’re the best team in the country for a reason, so you won’t have it your way for 100 minutes. We’ve gone there and played well for 45, 60, 70 minutes. Not quite sure we’ve put in a 100-minute performance yet. I think it’s time we do that.”

Explaining what he wants to see from his side tomorrow Duff said: “The word energy was used again. In any sport in the world, any team, if you don’t deliver energy along with your performance, you won’t win any football matches. With the game on Monday, it’s been about recovery, preparation, and being ready to bring your best on Friday. Everything for the last 24 hours, 36 hours, were parked to let the guys recover and bounce into tomorrow ready to deliver.”

Duff also welcomed the off field news this week that saw Neil Doyle and Cathal Doyle become investors in the club and spoke about the impact that will have on the pitch: “We’re looking at the summer window. It’s a difficult window. I don’t think there are many players available. The one standout over the three years from the summer window that we got in from the League of Ireland was Matty Smith. If we get one or two Matty Smiths in the building, we’ll be flying. The main thing is there will be budget for the window and the staff will be backed to get players in if we want, that’s great. Delighted to welcome Neil and Cathal to the club.”