League Preview: Bohemians -v- Limerick

Eighth plays ninth in Dalymount Park on Friday night as Bohemians welcome Limerick for their Airtricity Premier Division clash. Kick-off is 7.45pm

BOHEMIANS

Bohemians come into this game on the back of a 1-1 draw with Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers on Tuesday night. Bohs took the lead via Derek Pender's excellent strike but it was cancelled out by Shane Robinson's late goal.

Manager Owen Heary and his squad are determined not to be seen as “just a side that turns up” or that “just sees out the season”.

“We still want to improve our performances. We still want to improve our home form. We still want to get a few more goals for Dinny, and there have to be more goals for us.

 “We work hard for each other. We close down the team facing us. We work as a unit. People can see the transformation since the start of the season,” said Heary.

“I thought we deserved the three points on Tuesday, but before the match, knowing we were down a lot of bodies, we would have taken the one point.”

Paddy Kavanagh and Keith Buckley covered very effectively for injured Kevin Devaney (toe) and suspended Eoin Wearen respectively.

“It was a very disciplined performance by the team. They were aggressive, they were on the front foot from the word ‘go’,” said Heary.

Bohemians have overtaken Limerick in the league table but Heary expects another stiff test for his players, who also face a trip to Inchicore next Tuesday.

Limerick manager Martin Russell watched Bohemians in their last two league games and will have his team well prepared.

“We have beaten Limerick twice this year, in the cup and in the league. But they are like ourselves, they work hard and they have some strong, physical players. It will be another battle,” said Heary.

For Friday, Eoin Wearen and Jake Hyland return from suspension and Craig Walsh has served his ban but he is likely to be out with a quad injury. Kevin Devaney (toe) and Dan Byrne (cruciate) remain out.

Anto Murphy, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury, was on the bench on Tuesday and he is likely to a sub again on Friday as he continues to regain fitness.

LIMERICK

The Superblues are unbeaten in the capital this year, with three wins and three draws from their six visits, including victories over Saint Patrick’s Athletic and UCD in their most recent outings there.

Now sitting back in ninth, having suffered three straight losses at Thomond Park, Russell’s side will aim to at least leapfrog Bohs – just a point ahead of them – into eighth by making it three on the trot on the road.

There are now just five games remaining in the 2014 campaign and with just four points separating them from a top-half finish, the boss still has ambitions of finishing higher.

“Individually, the players will all have aspirations of playing in the Premier Division next year,” Russell told LimerickFC.ie as he focussed on his targets for the remainder of the season.

“As a group, since I’ve come in, the majority have tried to put their best foot forward and that’s going to be the case again hopefully on Friday and until the end of the season.

“We’ll re-evaluate at the end of the season and whoever has done really well we’ll try to keep them and we’ll look to add.

“The league is competitive. There are only a few points between that middle group, and if we can go on a run until the end of the season there is no reason why we can’t finish a couple of places higher.”

On the club’s unbeaten sequence in Dublin – which they will look to stretch to seven – the former UCD boss added: “We’ve got that little target to aim for as well. We can go and try to keep that going. We’ll go into the game with a desire to win it.

“The players put a lot into Sunday and again the injured players are being nursed in between games now because they haven’t fully cleared up, even though we had that break (16 days between UCD and Cork City).

“Hopefully, we can get another competitive team out against Bohemians, as we did against Cork.”

Reflecting on that late loss to the Leesiders – where Rob Lehane struck the only goal with 13 minutes left – Russell felt his side should have taken at least a point against the title-chasers.

“It was very disappointing not to get anything. On the balance of the game, I don’t think we deserved to lose it,” the 47-year-old said.

“It was a tight game. I thought we controlled fair chunks of it with good possession. We managed also to deal with their direct play, which we knew was going to come.

“It was a challenge because we’re probably not the most physical side at the moment, squad wise, compared to the areas that they have. It was a very interesting game and it was frustrating that we didn’t get anything. I thought we deserved something out of it.

“All in all, I thought there were more positives in the game, although we lost it, considering where they are in the league. We want to get above them down the road and that was a step in the right direction, albeit not winning.”

Limerick have lost their last three home games while failing to score against Derry City, Drogheda United and Cork over the past month, but they have won their last two away outings.

The first of those came at reigning champions St. Pat’s on 18 August when SSE Airtricity/SWAI Player of the Month Rory Gaffney netted the decisive second-half goal in a 1-0 win at Richmond Park.

They followed that up with a 3-1 victory at UCD three weeks ago, thanks to a brace from Gaffney and another from on-loan winger Ian Turner.

Manager Russell must do without the services of defenders Robbie Williams, Tony Whitehead (both hamstring), midfielder Jason Hughes (knee) and winger Jack Doherty (hip flexor).

On the plus side, captain Shane Duggan returns from suspension while winger Ian Turner, who missed the Cork game due to his loan deal, comes back into contention.

Referee: Anthony Buttimer

MATCH STATS

The teams have already met three times this season. The opening one back in April saw Limerick net their first league win of the year as Gaffney fired them to a 1-0 success with a second-half strike at Dalymount Park. At Thomond Park in the FAI Cup in June, Steven Beattie and Paddy Kavanagh scored in either half as Owen Heary’s side progressed on a 2-1 score line, Gaffney netting what proved to be only a consolation. And the following month at the iconic Munster venue, Stephen Folan gave Limerick an early lead but second-half goals from Kavanagh and Eoin Wearen – who had been on trial with the Superblues in pre-season – earned the Dubliners maximum points in what was Stuart Taylor’s last match in charge.

Bohemians are one point ahead of Limerick in the table but have lost two more games than the Superblues, however whilst Lims have drawn five, Bohs have drawn 12 of their 28 games this season.

It is the fourth time that referee Anthony Buttimer will have taken charge of a Limerick game this season; the previous three ended in wins, over Athlone Town (H2-1), Drogheda (A4-1) and UCD (A3-1).

BETTING

Bohemians 10/11; Draw 23/10; Limerick 3/1

PREDICTION

The fence looks like a good place to be for this one. Going to go for a 1-1 draw.

Bohemians:
Injured: Kevin Devaney (toe), Dan Byrne (cruciate)
Doubtful: Craig Walsh (quad)
Suspensions: None

Limerick:
Injured: Robbie Williams, Tony Whitehead (both hamstring), Jason Hughes (knee), Jack Doherty (hip flexor)
Doubtful: None
Suspensions: None