O’Brien’s Reds Gear Up Double Header | OneFootball

Shelbourne FC are back on the road this Friday night as they travel to face Derry City in their next SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Premier Division fixture. Kick off at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium is at 7:45pm, with the game live on LOITV.

The Reds come into the game following an eventful double header last week, drawing 2–2 with Shamrock Rovers after suffering a narrow 3–2 defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic.

Paddy Barrett, Odhran Casey, Mipo Odubeko, Ellis Chapman and Sean Moore remain sidelined through injury.

Speaking to ShelsTV after training, Joey O’Brien provided an update on the squad: “

“It’s a tight turnaround with the games coming Friday, Monday and Friday again. There’s no real change on the injury front. We did have Jack back on the pitch on Monday though, he’s overcome his issue which is great. It’s really good to get him back involved with the group.”

The Reds are looking to get back to winning ways after a loss and a draw in their last two outings. O’Brien believes a clean sheet will be key to getting back to winning ways: “We’ve always talked about clean sheets and that hasn’t changed. We still go on about them all the time. We’ve conceded too many goals, but suppose the good thing is not too many from open play or being carved open, but when you’re also giving away the goals we are from set plays it gives you no chance. We need to address that, cut it out. The lads know the importance of it. We talk about clean sheets constantly and it’s something we need to get back to. We need to nail that down again.”

O’Brien is braced for a tough test against a formidable side: “We’ve created a lot of chances and probably left a few behind us as well. But in both boxes we have to be cleaner. That’s the key for us now.”

“Derry away is always a difficult fixture. The Brandywell is a tough place to go and it has been over the last few years, and tomorrow night won’t be any different. They’ve got a lot of good players and they’ve signed some real quality. They’re a proper outfit and come the end of the season they’ll be there or thereabouts. It’s one we’re really looking forward to.”

As a former Ireland international defender with experience at the highest level in England O’Brien has been frustrated with the Reds defensive frailties but is confident we have the quality to address the issue?

“Ultimately I thought we defended well the other night in large parts against Rovers, and they ask a lot of questions of you. I thought we dealt with that really well for most of the game. You can do as much as you want on the training pitch and in the meeting room, but ultimately it becomes eyeball to eyeball on the pitch. If you’re marking a man you have to make sure the man you’re responsible for doesn’t score, that’s what it comes down to.”

Assessing the start to the season, O’Brien said: “You look at the performances and there’s no point going on about them too much now, we move past it. In the first two games we were the dominant team and didn’t give away too many chances in either. We probably missed a few opportunities to really put the games to bed against Waterford and Galway. In Drogheda got a good win, then against Pats we conceded three which was disappointing, and really you’re not conceding 3 goals from set pieces and winning any games, then against Rovers there were very good spells from us as well.

It’s been a busy week and a busy ten days, and when you come out of this four game stretch we’ll have a much clearer picture of where we are and what we need to do.”

On the importance of the Friday-Monday schedule: “It’s another Friday-Monday turnaround and that’s the kind of league it is. Two good results can flip things very quickly. Those Friday-Monday games are huge in terms of the league table, especially when you’re playing teams around you or rivals, you want to make sure you’re picking up points in those games. Tomorrow is a tough one, it always is.”

On the atmosphere and supporters: “Having a Dublin derby on a Monday night with a full house, some teams in the league won’t get that. Monday night can be tough for supporters but the Dublin games tend to take care of themselves. Derry and Bohs should be two big games for us.

The crowds have been brilliant and with the new stand opening soon we’ll hopefully be able to get even more people in. The last day against Rovers over 5,700 people in Tolka, the highest attendance since 2006, that’s an amazing, fantastic sight, now it’s up to us to give the fans something to shout about, to give them something they can buy into and get excited by. Ultimately that’s what it’s about, giving them players and performances that are worth the admission price. I’m a football fan, when you take the coaching and tactics out of it, you want to see players that get you out of your seat, make you love the game, we have players like that, we want them to shine and show what they can do.”