Following the 2-1 defeat to Finn Harps last Saturday manager Rob Mc Donald gave his thoughts on the game and the upcoming season to sligorovers.com

It was a very downbeat Rob Mc Donald and the turbulant week that had passed looked to have taken his toll. He opened with a reflection on the opening part of the game

 "It was practically a carbon copy of the game against Monaghan.We should have been and I am not joking,4-0 up after 20 mins. We were playing unbelieveable stuff.It is the best I have seen them play and we ripped them apart.Obviously we should have had a penalty when Gavin Peers was brought down which would have been 2-0 and a completly different game. At this point it seems we are not able to take blows mentally, looking at the game at the whole I think Finn Harps had maybe 2 good chances, the rest we gave away with little mistakes"
         

It had been a sensational start to the game by his side and it was the big positive from last Saturday's game as the 4-3-3 system that has been talked about so often showed just the kind of football it can produce. However in remainder of the game Rovers did not reach the standard they started with and Mc Donald admitted this was a worry as he talked about game as a whole

       " The first 20 or 25 mins is not going to win games and the next 70 mins is what is really getting my back up,letting it go mentally,dropping too deep and not getting the second balls which I have always told them is so important and that is worrying.If they don't keep their positions and discipline we are not going to hurt anybody.Other than the first quarter I do not think Raf Cretaro and Jason Mc Cartney really hurt their full back and they were a very poor defensive team"

He added
          " They packed the midfield and they did it pretty smart. They had some breaks but as I said they only really had one major chance in the 2nd half .So,in all fairness we are not going to give a lot away except for the really stupid balls which have  cost us stupid goals,especially from the same side. Sean Kelly ,who normally we talk about being secure, was a bit late for the penalty and you have got to ask yourself why Jamie Mc Kenzie is heading the ball in that area for the other one.It is alright saying it is working on the training ground,it has got to work of the pitch as well.I'm just hoping the extra edge you need for a competitive game will come back"

During the 2nd half Mc Donald made a couple of changes to the side in a bid to find a goal to level the game. He gave his reasons for each substitution

    " I brought Piotr Badjzak on simply because Jason was not being too lucky in what he tried.By bring Gavin in for Zoltan[allowing Coleman to go to right back] it allowed Seamus to bomb up the right hand side and he did that and it did work. He had the one chance where the cross nearly lobbed over the keeper and nearly went in. Thats talking about half chances really.Adam Hughes had a great chance where the keeper saved it .If you look at chances over the whole game we really can not complain. We created a lot more than we did against Monaghan .It is just having a grip on the game . We really need to make sure we dictate at least 80% of the game .Today it was probably 50-50  over the whole 90 mins and that is not Sligo Rovers. That is not the way it should be done".

Mc Donald is hopeful of adding to his squad in the coming weeks as currently he only has one senior striker in his squad. He revealed Gino O' Boyle has signed under 21 forms and believes that "if Gino worked hard,really worked on his game and got really fit there is no reason he can not have an opportunity of making the first team". He also said there had been a possibility that Sean Flannery would rejoin the club but this was unlikely now.

The better news was that striker Freddy Monbongo looks to be Showgrounds bound as the manager hopes to have him in the squad before the end of the month.Mc Donald seemed excited at the possible signing
      "There are quite a few strikers who are free agents but it is all about finding a couple that are cheap enough,the one coming in [Monbongo] is a bloody good striker in my eyes and he is fit. I have seen him play and he will bring a lot of pleasure to everyone"

Rovers begin their season vs Galway United. The game is on this  Friday in Terryland Park.Details on where to buy tickets for the game will appear on sligorovers.com in the coming days

 Courtesy of Rory Houston.