McDonnell - Survival vital for Shels

When Johnny McDonnell took the reins at Shelbourne on May 24, they were rooted to the bottom of the table with just one win from 14 matches.

In the 16 games since, McDonnell has galvanised the side and secured another 15 points to lift his side off the bottom of the table, ahead of Bray Wanderers on goal difference and five points behind UCD.

The job proved too difficult for Alan Mathews who resigned eight days before McDonnell took charge and the former Faroe Islands coach admits that things looked bleak when he first met the squad.

“There was definitely a lack of confidence around the group,they had six points at that stage of the season so we had to change a few things around.

“We changed the training ground and the training regime a tiny bit just to get them going again,” he added.

“Looking at the group that was there, we felt that we could do something with them and that was one of the main reasons (I took the job).

“Initially the club said, ‘Look Johnny, can you just get us to the play-offs?’, that was the plan and we’re still in there with three games to go.”

Four and a half months on and McDonnell is on track with Shelbourne now lying in the relegation play-off places with the Dubliner still hopeful of overtaking UCD and avoiding a two-legged play-off against one of Longford Town, Waterford United or Mervue United.

 “We’ve got three games left and it’s vital that we stay there (the Premier Division). If the club hadn’t made the change and we hadn’t come in, I think they would have been relegated a long time back.

“We still have a chance, we’ve got nine points to play for and hopefully we can get enough to either stay up or make the play-offs.”

Despite the possible repercussions that relegation could bring on the club, the former St. Patrick’s Athletic manager insists that he only feels pressure from one source.

“The pressure comes from within. It comes from myself and the staff to grab this group, get them together and try to pull them up. I think we’ve done that, we’ve got 21 points now and we’re in the mix.”

The run-in is a tricky one for Shels, two away fixtures in Munster against Cork City and Limerick and a final day showdown against UCD at Tolka Park. With every point gained even more important at this stage of the season, there’s a temptation for sides at the bottom to sit back in away games and hold out for a draw but McDonnell wants his side to attack.

“We’ve got to be positive, if you can score first then you can concentrate more on the defensive side of things. We need to score goals because every goal is vital to the goal difference so I think you need to be positive in your approach.”

The survival mission continues on Thursday night at Turner’s Cross against Cork City.