The away allocation for Friday’s match in Tolka Park is SOLD OUT. The match will be shown on Virgin Media 2, kick off 7.45pm

The bad weather put paid to our first home league game against Cork City last Sunday. What was your overall emotion when it was finally postponed?

“Obviously, you’re frustrated. You’re prepared to play the game and you’re ready. The players are built up to a level where they’re ready to play so it was frustrating for everyone involved. But the rain that came down after 4pm, that killed it. There was never going to be a game. The water had nowhere to go. So, the pitch was obviously unplayable. We all tried to give to give it to the last possible moment to get the game on. But with the groundsmen and refereeing team, it would have been unsafe for players to play. It was the right call but was frustrating for everyone but there was nothing anybody could do.”

While players always want to play, even through the heavy early schedule we’ve had, was there any sense of relief among the group to get a well-earned rest last Sunday?

“We haven’t spoken about it, so I’m not sure. As I said, you’re geared up to play the game and prepare as normal to play the game. So when it was called off, we didn’t have a chat and that everyone was happy, that’s not how it goes in dressing rooms. I understand from the outside, people might think that. But I think we’ve shown when we’ve played in Europe and played straight after, there have been times when we’ve been really good for the majority of them. Away to Waterford last year for example, having had a tough game on the Thursday, the lads were brilliant for 65 minutes. I know against Bohs at the Aviva, we were a bit slow in the first thirty minutes getting off the mark, but after that we were brilliant. I think a lot can be made of it, but these players are used to it and I don’t think it would’ve affected us too much playing against Cork. There were no celebrations that the game was off!”

Our second league game pits us away to defending champions Shelbourne at Tolka Park. Is there a real anticipation or added determination among the players now that roles are somewhat reversed, with Shels trying to retain a title and us looking to regain it?

“We just need to be better than what we were last season. We don’t look at any individual team, we never have or never will. It’s more about that we know, if we do what we do to our best, we’ll give ourselves a better chance of being successful. Last season we didn’t do that domestically. The second half of the season was good, but that’s not enough at this club. It’s not enough to do it for four or five months and we know that and know it wasn’t acceptable. As I said, if we show up as we did against Bohs, as we did against Molde, for the majority of the season, we’ll be fine. I really liked large aspects of those performances, and I think we’ll be fine. But we have to stay at that level, stay consistent. Domestically for the first three or four months, it was a million miles away from our levels. We know that’s our aim this year, to get back to what we do, get back to our levels and see where that takes us.”

Shelbourne have played two and won two. Have you noticed any change in their game plan or set-up as against last season, particularly with some new players like Mipo, Dan Kelly and Ryan O’Kane added to their squad?

“There’s no real change in how they play. They’re good in what they do, so there’s no real need for them to change. As you said, Shels have added some good players to their group, but they pretty much do fairly similar things. They’re good at what they do, but it’s similar to what they’ve done last season and the one before. So, we need to make sure we’re focussed and ready. If you remember the game we lost to Shels in Tolka early last season, that was from us being really poor in terms of a goal kick and a shot from the edge of the box. That was silly stuff that we should’ve prevented. We need to make sure we focus on that sort of stuff, the small detail and then look after everything else.”

It’s another full house at Tolka Park, live on Virgin TV, so it should be another great advertisement for a thriving LOI.

“Yes, it should be. It’s sold out and we sold our 1,000 tickets. It’s brilliant, we’ll see that from both clubs in terms of a really good support base. It’s another Dublin Derby, Shels are league champions, so it has the makings to be a good game and hopefully another good advertisement for the league, which is the main thing for everyone.”

Who’s unavailable for the Shelbourne game?

“We’re still waiting for clearance from the surgeon on Darragh Nugent. It’s really frustrating for Darragh, he feels there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s doing all the work in terms of non-contact. He’s on top of everything but just can’t be in contact right now. We’re hoping he’ll be cleared next week. Jack Byrne, Trevor Clarke and Adam Matthews are all back, so that’s a big plus for us. Danny Mandroiu will be another 2-3 weeks.”