Joey O’Brien: “It’s up to us to deliver on the night.” | OneFootball

Shelbourne FC return to Tolka Park on Friday night as they host Drogheda United in the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Premier Division. Kick off is at 7:45pm. The game is live on LOITV.

The Reds come into this one following a 2-1 defeat to Derry City last time out, a result that saw them leave the Tolka Park empty handed despite creating enough chances to take something from the game.

Speaking to ShelsTV after training at the AUL earlier today, Joey O’Brien provided a positive update on the squad: “It’s been a good week’s training, full focus from everyone. Milan, Mipo and Odhran are all moving nicely and we’re hoping to have them back in the next two to three weeks.

Everyone else is back in contention. It was great to see Paddy Barrett get through 90 minutes. We’ll look to build him again, and he performed really well considering how long he’s been out. He brings that personality to the group and that leadership as captain.”

Attention now turns to Drogheda United, with O’Brien under no illusions about the challenge they pose: “It’s a big challenge. They’re coming off the back of a tough run themselves, but the only thing you can focus on is your own preparation and performance.

Everything starts during the week, making sure that on the night you can control your levels and your performance. It’s always a difficult game. We beat them 2-1 earlier in the season up there, but there wasn’t much in it. The games between us over the last few years have all been tight.”

O’Brien also addressed the external noise around recent results, making it clear the focus remains internal: “There’s always going to be stuff on the outside, but as players and staff we focus on what’s happening inside the building. That’s what we can control. We look at what’s gone wrong, we fix it, and we prepare properly.

Against Derry, we had enough chances to win the game really. It’s the goals we’re conceding that are hurting us. We need to get back to what we’ve been good at over the last few years. That starts with preparation and performance, and building from a clean sheet. We know we’ll score goals. Sounds simple to say, a lot easier said than done, but when we start keeping clean sheets, we’ll start winning games”

The Shels boss was candid in his own assessment: “As a manager and a coach, the players and staff know, it just hasn’t been good enough. There’s no point looking back. If you keep looking behind you too long, you’ll crash into a wall. It’s about getting ready to go again and attacking the next game. That’s Drogheda tomorrow at Tolka, what came last week, the week before, if we’re thinking of that at 7:45 tomorrow, it’s not going to help.

There should be a bit of fire in the belly when people are criticising but being honest I don’t listen to criticism from people I wouldn’t take advice from. It’s about what we do on the pitch, and the last three results haven’t been good enough.”

O’Brien remains confident there is a strong performance coming: “There’s been a lot of good stuff, but we’ve had too many moments go against us. No more hard luck stories now, it’s about going out and nailing the performance.

It’s going to be a really difficult game, it always is. The Tolka pitch is in great condition, the weather should be good, and it’s up to us to deliver on the night.”