John Russell has praised his players for their patience and self-belief following Sligo Rovers’ second win of the season on Friday night.
The crucial victory over Bohemians in less than ideal conditions, means Rovers are now two games unbeaten heading into a set of massive home games with Waterford and last year’s First Division winners Dundalk.
Rovers didn’t just have the weather and one of the league’s top teams to contend with. The ongoing fuel protests on the roads to the capital added hours to Rovers’ journey to Dublin on Friday, whilst supporters too were forced to find alternative routes to Phibsboro but still managed to turn up in big numbers.
Despite going behind early on, Sligo found a way back into this game courtesy of the ever reliable Will Fitgerald who finished off an Alex Nolan cross. While Sean McHale, one of several standout performers on the night, nodded a winner past Kacper Chorazka early in the second period.
“It was a massive performance and we’ve put in a huge effort”, Russell told LOITV after the game.
“We were disappointed to concede the type of goal we did as the long ball cuts us open. But the response was really good.
“Second half, we managed the conditions well. Once we got ourselves in front, every man was putting his body on the line so it’s a great three points.
“The performances have been good this season but we haven’t got the points return. It was important for us to stay calm because the performances will yield results. That’s why I’m so happy for the lads because we’ve picked up three points on the back of what’s been happening recently.
“We felt we owed Bohs one too given that they gave us a real run-around earlier this year. We were happy with the way we conducted ourselves tonight. There were a lot of positives for us.”
Next up for Rovers is an important meeting with basement side Waterford whose scheduled outing with Drogheda on Friday was called off due to the conditions. This is now the Bit O’Red’s biggest game of the season and Russell has called on all supporters to make it to the Showgrounds this coming Saturday.
“We want to put a run together”, the Rovers boss says.
“Hopefully we can use this as a real springboard. We’ve two home games coming up now. I was really pleased for the fans who came here tonight and the points moves us up. Now it’s about moving into next week, getting a big crowd into the Showgrounds for the Waterford game.”
David Goulden