Drogs boss aiming to lift squad for TV clash
DROGHEDA United boss Kevin Doherty faces the task of lifting his squad from the depths of despair following their remarkable 3-2 defeat at the hands of Galway United last week.
The Boynesiders will be back in the spotlight this Thursday when they play a rare live TV match as Virgin Media screen their clash with Waterford at the RSC (kick-off 7:45pm) and Doherty is insisting that his team learn lessons after they conceded two injury-time goals against the Tribesmen.
Speaking on Tuesday, Doherty said: “It was extremely disappointing, the way that it turned out, and I was thinking about it the whole weekend, obviously.
“I’m trying to think of games where stuff like that happened and the only one I could get was Man United against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, where Bayern were much the better side and got hit with two sucker punches.
“Our whole performance was completely over-shadowed by the result and rightly so, and that can’t happen.
“We know that we played well and we know the game should have been put to bed.
“We should have defended way, way better for the equaliser, and then Maurice Nugent shanks a shot that’s going wide and someone sticks a leg out for the winner.
“We have to learn from it because it can’t happen again. We have to be way more composed in that situation, and we’ve talked that through in training about different strategies just in case someone does equalise against us in the 90th minute.
“It’s my job to lift the players now. Of course, after the game everyone was disappointed, but we came in on Sunday and we had a few meetings and worked on a few things in training and I would be pretty confident we will put on a performance against Waterford.
“If you dwell on things too long it tends to fester and get into you. We didn’t dwell on scoring a 94th-minute winner against Dundalk too long and it’s the same thing now, and a little bit of perspective comes into play.
“I never, ever question the commitment or the players’ attitude towards hard work. They are the hardest working bunch of players in the league and the rewards will be there for them.”
Wateford’s run of three straight wins came to an end when they lost 1-0 to league leaders Shelbourne in Tolka Park last week and Drogheda know only too well of the challenge they pose, after the Blues put them to the sword in their previous meeting with a stunning 4-1 victory at Weavers Park.
Drogheda are monitoring the fitness of Darragh Markey and Adam Foley who both came off last week with slight knocks, while Warren Davis is ruled out after suffering concussion in a clash of heads.
But the youngster could play as early as next week, when the Drogs host Shamrock Rovers, and that’s good news for the manager who had feared he could be out for considerably longer.
“I have to pay tribute to our doctor, the physio Keith and, I believe, Galway as well for their help with Warren,” said Doherty.
“It was a worrying time, but he is doing well and touch wood he will recover really, really soon because he’s been excellent for us.
“For a player his age, he’s played far more minutes in this league than anyone else and that shows what we think of Warren.”