Greg Sloggett stresses the need for Dundalk to get back to winning ways

Greg Sloggett says Dundalk FC simply must get back to winning ways at home to UCD on Friday night (kick-off, 7.45pm) if they are to mount an SSE Airtricity League title charge.

Dundalk’s five-game winning streak came to a disappointing end over the weekend after The Lilywhites were held to a scoreless draw by seventh-place Shelbourne at Tolka Park.

“We knew what they were going to bring,” Sloggett said afterwards. “They’re up and at it and they press high and they press well. We knew it was going to be an end-to-end game and we’d have to be on our game.

“I thought we played reasonably well. I thought we could have dominated the game in different parts a bit better. Ultimately, we’ve come away with the better chances and we should have won the game. It’s a hard place to come and Shels are going well, so we’ll take it and we’ll move on to next week.”

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Two points dropped in Drumcondra, coupled with Shamrock Rovers recent wins over Bohs and St Pats means Dundalk are now 10 points behind the leaders, but with two games in hand.

“It’s a cliché, but we only take it game by game,” added the Dundalk midfielder. “We’ve gone and beaten Rovers last week and you can feel the confidence around that, but we have to turn up on nights like tonight and win the games if we want to go and win the league.

“We can only look to ourselves to make that happen week in, week out and see where it goes. Obviously, Rovers have the distraction of Europe now and we have just the league to focus on really.

“We’re determined to make a lash at it and see what happens. We’re making no bones about it; it’s a fresh group and we’re doing well to now.”

Perhaps there is no better opportunity to get back on the winning trail than with a home fixture against UCD, who sit at the foot of the table with just nine points from 20 games.

However, although The Students did lose 2-0 on their last excursion to Oriel Park in April, they fought back to draw 2-2 with ten-man Dundalk a month later in Belfield.

That being said, UCD haven’t recorded a win on the Carrick Road in just over nine years, when a certain David McMillan and Robbie Benson helped them to a 3-2 win at Oriel.

“We look back on the game against UCD the last time we drew 2-2,” said Sloggett, who spent five seasons there between 2014 and 2018. “That was a slip-up, so we have to go and win next week.

“If you want to win the league, you have to win week in, week out and go on a similar run that we have been on, but just make it consistent for the rest of the year. That’s what we’re determined to do and we have to make sure we win this week.”