O’Connor is back but he faces another challenge

WITH ONE battle behind him, Danny O’Connor now faces another. An injury suffered in the Leinster Senior Cup in February ruled him out for the entire first series of fixtures in the Premier Division.

But now that he’s back, his next challenge will be to break up the Webster and Mitchell partnership that has seen Bray Wanderers record six clean sheets in 11 matches.

“It’s great to be back. It’s been a long few weeks training. I was just trying to get back fit with the lads and I was lacking the match fitness so it was great to get 90 minutes. I was disappointed with how I played, probably the second half; my match sharpness just isn’t there yet.”

O’Connor is well aware that he is not guaranteed a place in the side but that, he says, can only be beneficial to the club.

“That’s the positives. That’s football. That’s what you want.

“The lads have done great so I suppose in the bigger scheme of things, I’m hoping they can continue.

“That’s where we want to be and the lads have done great, I think that’s five or six clean sheets in the first round of games. It’s really, really positive stuff.

“I suppose the challenge is that there’s suspensions now and injuries coming so whatever about me, I think as a squad, I think this game will stand to us now in the next set of games.” The Seagulls skipper believes there are many contributing factors to Bray’s defensive solidarity this year. And he hopes these improvements continue in the future.

“It’s a mixture. Alan’s done well in the transfer market, even in the short period he had to get a squad together. There’s a really good blend of experience and youth, even today, Michael (Brown) and Sean Hurley came in and did very well. It’s all positive for the future.

“Things have gone very well. Alan and Barry have done very well in regards getting the team to gel well together. There’s a bit of resilience there. Training has really good and things are good at the minute, let’s hope it continues.”