Foster believes Dundalk will bounce back
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Dundalk FC manager Ian Foster has backed his team to show their “amazing bouncebackability” once again, after their eight-match unbeaten run in the league came to an end with a 1-0 defeat by Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds on Monday evening. Alan Kirby gave Sligo a deserved lead ten minutes into the second half, but the Lilywhites were somehow denied an equaliser three minutes from time when Brendan Clarke produced heroics to deny Michael Hector.
“It’s always disappointing; of course it is,” Foster told dundalkfc.com when asked about the long unbeaten run coming to a halt. “We would have taken a point here after the victory over Derry on Thursday, but it wasn’t to be. We threw everything at them in the last half-an-hour and unfortunately we just couldn’t get the equaliser. Michael Hector’s chance at the end is a fantastic save from their ‘keeper. But we won’t feel sorry for ourselves and we’ll pick ourselves up, like we have done before. This team has an amazing bouncebackability, and we’ll go into the Galway game on Sunday full of spirit, full of endeavour and try to win the game.
“Obviously, you would like to be up there,” he added, reflecting on his side losing ground in the table following the other results on the night. “But where we are in the league, we still have a game in hand on the likes of Sligo, Bray and Bohemians, so if we can manage to get points in our game in hand then that might move us into a better position.” Dundalk’s next two league games are at home, to Drogheda United and Saint Patrick’s Athletic, with the aim maximum points. “It’s always the aim, absolutely, especially when we’re playing at home,” he said. “We’ve got our unbeaten record at home to keep hold of, but both games will be difficult – a local derby and then St. Pat’s, who have had an excellent start to the season. It will be very, very difficult but hopefully between now and then we can get one or two players back.”
Giving his reaction to his side’s performance in the west, the Liverpool-born boss said: “I think you have to give a bit of credit to Sligo. They had us on the back foot for long periods and we found it difficult at times. Obviously, we went into the game missing Greg Bolger; he makes us play, in fairness. I think we missed that in the early periods of the game; we couldn’t get a foothold on the game, and Sligo kept pressing. In fairness, we probably didn’t really start opening them up until we went a goal down. From the moment they scored, we were fantastic and we pressed and pressed and pressed, and I just don’t know how we didn’t get the equaliser.
“We had some chances and their ‘keeper made a wonderful save in the dying seconds,” Ian added, before stating that the personnel available to him dictated his game plan. “We had to go with the system that we started with because missing Daniel (Kearns), we didn’t have a natural replacement out there. Like we did against Derry, we played a 4-3-3 formation, and the plan was to contain them and then try to hit them on the break. But our passing wasn’t as good as it should have been, in fairness, in the first half in particular. But we got better as the game went on and, like I say, towards the end of the game we should have got something out of it.”
Simon Madden signalled to Foster early on that left-back Nathan Murphy had a hamstring problem, but the young defender had to stay on the pitch. “We think he strained his hamstring but he had to stay on,” the 34-year-old said. “We just haven’t got anyone else. Our other left-back has got a broken leg. We’re missing six players tonight and then Nathan pulls his hamstring in the first half. It’s just the luck we’re having at the minute. The lads are putting their bodies on the line. We’re picking up injury after injury; whether we have to look at training and see if we’re doing too much there, because that’s three hamstrings at the moment. It’s getting increasingly difficult to get players on the pitch.”
And with four league games coming up in a ten-day period, after they get their FAI Cup game against Galway United out of the way next weekend, Foster admits he is worried by the injuries which are decimating the squad. “It’s always the same old story; it’s game after game after game,” he said. “Flogging a dead horse comes to mind; it’s asking too much of the players and you can see that players are starting to fatigue and starting to get injured. Obviously, we have got knee ligament injuries and we’ve got broken legs and you can’t do anything about that. The soft-tissue injuries are creeping in now and that’s because of the amount of games that we’re playing.”
Galway suffered a heavy defeat by Derry City on Monday to stretch their losing streak to ten games, though Foster knows his former club cannot be taken for granted. “It’s always nice to play in the cup competitions,” Ian said when asked if the competition was a welcome distraction from the league. “It’s obviously disappointing that we’re playing another team from our division; you always want to play somebody different. But we want to be successful in the cup competitions. We’ve already got to one cup final; the players have had a taste of it. We have got a difficult game against Galway United. Form goes out the window. But we’re looking forward to it; we’re the home team, it will be a little bit different playing on a Sunday afternoon, and we’ll be desperately trying to win the game.
“We’re aware of that,” Foster added when it was put to him that Galway will get a result somewhere soon. “We just hope it’s not against us. We’re desperate to get through to the next round of the cup, but form goes out the window. You see it in FA Cups right across the world; teams from lower divisions beat higher teams – there are always giant killings. It will certainly be nothing like that because Galway are in our division and they’ll be coming to Oriel Park trying to get a result. If we’re at it and we play well and play to our capabilities, we’ll be through to the next round of the cup. If we don’t, we’ll find it difficult.” Greg Bolger will again miss out, with the 22-year-old set for a fortnight on the sidelines. “Greg got a hamstring strain,” Foster said. “He shouldn’t particularly have played on Thursday night but we played him because we needed to. I’d imagine that Greg will be a couple of weeks. With the other players out, it’s not easy, but we will get Daniel Kearns back obviously, which will help us. Just hopefully, in the meantime, we don’t lose anybody else.”
“It’s always disappointing; of course it is,” Foster told dundalkfc.com when asked about the long unbeaten run coming to a halt. “We would have taken a point here after the victory over Derry on Thursday, but it wasn’t to be. We threw everything at them in the last half-an-hour and unfortunately we just couldn’t get the equaliser. Michael Hector’s chance at the end is a fantastic save from their ‘keeper. But we won’t feel sorry for ourselves and we’ll pick ourselves up, like we have done before. This team has an amazing bouncebackability, and we’ll go into the Galway game on Sunday full of spirit, full of endeavour and try to win the game.
“Obviously, you would like to be up there,” he added, reflecting on his side losing ground in the table following the other results on the night. “But where we are in the league, we still have a game in hand on the likes of Sligo, Bray and Bohemians, so if we can manage to get points in our game in hand then that might move us into a better position.” Dundalk’s next two league games are at home, to Drogheda United and Saint Patrick’s Athletic, with the aim maximum points. “It’s always the aim, absolutely, especially when we’re playing at home,” he said. “We’ve got our unbeaten record at home to keep hold of, but both games will be difficult – a local derby and then St. Pat’s, who have had an excellent start to the season. It will be very, very difficult but hopefully between now and then we can get one or two players back.”
Giving his reaction to his side’s performance in the west, the Liverpool-born boss said: “I think you have to give a bit of credit to Sligo. They had us on the back foot for long periods and we found it difficult at times. Obviously, we went into the game missing Greg Bolger; he makes us play, in fairness. I think we missed that in the early periods of the game; we couldn’t get a foothold on the game, and Sligo kept pressing. In fairness, we probably didn’t really start opening them up until we went a goal down. From the moment they scored, we were fantastic and we pressed and pressed and pressed, and I just don’t know how we didn’t get the equaliser.
“We had some chances and their ‘keeper made a wonderful save in the dying seconds,” Ian added, before stating that the personnel available to him dictated his game plan. “We had to go with the system that we started with because missing Daniel (Kearns), we didn’t have a natural replacement out there. Like we did against Derry, we played a 4-3-3 formation, and the plan was to contain them and then try to hit them on the break. But our passing wasn’t as good as it should have been, in fairness, in the first half in particular. But we got better as the game went on and, like I say, towards the end of the game we should have got something out of it.”
Simon Madden signalled to Foster early on that left-back Nathan Murphy had a hamstring problem, but the young defender had to stay on the pitch. “We think he strained his hamstring but he had to stay on,” the 34-year-old said. “We just haven’t got anyone else. Our other left-back has got a broken leg. We’re missing six players tonight and then Nathan pulls his hamstring in the first half. It’s just the luck we’re having at the minute. The lads are putting their bodies on the line. We’re picking up injury after injury; whether we have to look at training and see if we’re doing too much there, because that’s three hamstrings at the moment. It’s getting increasingly difficult to get players on the pitch.”
And with four league games coming up in a ten-day period, after they get their FAI Cup game against Galway United out of the way next weekend, Foster admits he is worried by the injuries which are decimating the squad. “It’s always the same old story; it’s game after game after game,” he said. “Flogging a dead horse comes to mind; it’s asking too much of the players and you can see that players are starting to fatigue and starting to get injured. Obviously, we have got knee ligament injuries and we’ve got broken legs and you can’t do anything about that. The soft-tissue injuries are creeping in now and that’s because of the amount of games that we’re playing.”
Galway suffered a heavy defeat by Derry City on Monday to stretch their losing streak to ten games, though Foster knows his former club cannot be taken for granted. “It’s always nice to play in the cup competitions,” Ian said when asked if the competition was a welcome distraction from the league. “It’s obviously disappointing that we’re playing another team from our division; you always want to play somebody different. But we want to be successful in the cup competitions. We’ve already got to one cup final; the players have had a taste of it. We have got a difficult game against Galway United. Form goes out the window. But we’re looking forward to it; we’re the home team, it will be a little bit different playing on a Sunday afternoon, and we’ll be desperately trying to win the game.
“We’re aware of that,” Foster added when it was put to him that Galway will get a result somewhere soon. “We just hope it’s not against us. We’re desperate to get through to the next round of the cup, but form goes out the window. You see it in FA Cups right across the world; teams from lower divisions beat higher teams – there are always giant killings. It will certainly be nothing like that because Galway are in our division and they’ll be coming to Oriel Park trying to get a result. If we’re at it and we play well and play to our capabilities, we’ll be through to the next round of the cup. If we don’t, we’ll find it difficult.” Greg Bolger will again miss out, with the 22-year-old set for a fortnight on the sidelines. “Greg got a hamstring strain,” Foster said. “He shouldn’t particularly have played on Thursday night but we played him because we needed to. I’d imagine that Greg will be a couple of weeks. With the other players out, it’s not easy, but we will get Daniel Kearns back obviously, which will help us. Just hopefully, in the meantime, we don’t lose anybody else.”
