Murray: Cork are over UCD horror

Cork City captain Dan Murray believes the team have moved on from last Friday night’s disappointing opening day loss away to UCD.

The Premier Division new boys open their home account against Mick Cooke’s Drogheda United at Turner’s Cross tomorrow night and the skipper reckons their performance will be much improved.

“You have to move on, as disappointing as it was,” Murray said. 

“We didn't play as well as we wanted to play and obviously the result was very disappointing but we'll have to take it on the chin, learn from it and realise that if we're not playing as well as we can, then we're not going to get a result in this league. 

“We're all pretty sure that we can put it right against Drogheda.”

On Mark Langtry’s soft first half winner for the students, Murray said: “It was just a few mistakes from a few people and it was just one of those things, we just didn't defend well enough and we'll look back through the video and hopefully we won't make that mistake again.”

Expectations heading into that game were very high and the loss no doubt dampened them down quite a bit.

With his former club Shamrock Rovers - next up to face Cork at Turner’s Cross on Friday week - Sligo Rovers, Derry City and St Pat’s all with much bigger squads, the defeat, in a way, was a welcome dose of realism for those whose expectations were far too grand for a side that will take some time in finding their feet at the top table.

Murray, however, reckons City can take points off every team but says that the Leesiders won’t set themselves any strict goals until the first series of games are completed.

“At this stage, I’m sick of this question being asked at press conferences, but I've no doubt we're going to be competitive against every single team,” Murray said. 

“Our aim is going to be near the top of the division and we'll wait until we've played everyone before we decide on that and we'll probably decide on our goal then.”

On a personal level, Murray says he has settled back into life on Leeside seamlessly and the spirit in the squad has changed little in the two years he has been away, despite quite a few new faces in the side.

 “Perfect, it's been good,” he added.

“It always helps when you know a good few of the lads from the last time I was here and I've watched a few of the games last year too. 

“Same as the first time, it's always been an easy dressing room to settle into and not much has changed from when I was here before.”