Stephen O'Donnell hopeful Dundalk FC can reignite their clinical edge

Stephen O’Donnell says Dundalk FC need to be more clinical, with the head coach left scratching his head following Sunday’s 1-1 SSE Airtricity League draw with Shelbourne.

After suffering Europa Conference League elimination at the hands of KA Akureyri last Thursday night, attention swiftly returned to domestic matters, with Dundalk continuing their campaign for a return to the continental stage against fellow challengers Shels.

Things looked good for The Lilywhites when John Martin put them ahead with a superb free-kick on 39 minutes, but even though they controlled much of the game, were pegged back on 83 minutes as Harry Wood’s goal clinched a point for the Drumcondra outfit.

“We need to be more cohesive and slicker when we go one up to exploit the situation,” said O’Donnell.

“I think it was on to exploit today and we didn’t, so you always leave yourself a little bit vulnerable to what happened. That’d be my feelings on it. Our job is just to get that little bit more cohesive and add a little bit more rhythm in our game.

“Draws don’t do loads for you in a league table,” he added. “They probably keep a little bit of momentum, obviously it’s better than a defeat, keeps your good home record in that sense. But from a table point of view, it doesn’t really do a huge amount for you.

“We have to take this one on the chin. We freshened it up, some good performances, but no matter what team we play, we need to have more rhythm. Pitch isn’t ideal either, very dry this hour. But still, I thought we could have found a spare man more than we did.”

Most of the pre-match talk surrounded Daryl Horgan, the 17-time capped Republic of Ireland international who made a sensational return to Oriel Park last Tuesday night following a six-and-a-half-year career in England and Scotland, in which he represented Preston North End, Hibernian, Wycombe Wanderers, and most recently Stevenage.

Ineligible for the KA match, Horgan was named in the starting line-up against Shels, and churned out an impressive second debut, particularly throughout the first 45 minutes.

“It was probably a bit early for him, but I wanted to inject a little bit of good positivity. He’s a really good player. He managed to last around 85 minutes, so he’ll come on a bundle for that. And as you said, he definitely showed glimpses of what he can be for us.”

Indeed, Horgan was involved in Dundalk’s opener, posing as though he was going to try and curl a free-kick into the top corner, but instead acted as a decoy for Martin, who rifled an unstoppable shot right into the top corner to put The Lilywhites 1-0 in front.

“John didn’t listen to the groans,” laughed O’Donnell. “He practices that, and once you strike them balls like that, like the way John did on the money, keepers have no chance.”

For Martin, who also scored a header against KA three days prior, his goal versus Shels means the Kilkenny native has now scored in each of his last three appearances at Oriel.

“He’s playing with a little niggle, but he’s riding the crest of a wave and its great for him.”

Just one day after announcing Horgan’s return, Dundalk confirmed that ex-Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Sam Durrant had signed for the club on a short-term contract.

“Sam’s obviously been a bit overshadowed because of the calibre and profile of Daryl, and the relationship,” admitted O’Donnell.

“He’s sharp, a wide player as well, and good on one v ones. He trained with us for three days pre the Magpies game and impressed.

“Obviously from a financial aspect, we had to see how we progressed in the first round. We’re delighted to have Sam on board as well, and hopefully he’s an exciting addition.”

Dundalk also confirmed that Johannes Yli-Kokko, who was last week due to return to HJK Helsinki, has had his loan agreement extended until the end of the current season.

The Lilywhites are back at Oriel again this Friday night, as they welcome Sligo Rovers (kick-off, 7.45pm) with hopes of closing ground on the Premier Division’s chasing pack.

Connor Malley sat out the Shels game after picking up a slight knock against KA, but should be fit and ready to make a return to the XI against The Bit O’Red if called upon.

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“Obviously you’re hoping to win every game. Against St Pats (last Friday), Sligo had a large proportion of the game as well, some good sequences, and they have good players.

“So it’ll be a tough game for us on Friday. We need to recover well now. We have a bit of a short week, Sunday to Friday, so we need to get recovery and then get ready to go.”