UCD boss Collie O’Neill says he will look to his underage teams to provide the ammunition required to try and keep his side in the Premier Division. Without any league points since April and with their latest defeat on the road coming against Sligo
UCD boss Collie O’Neill says he will look to his underage teams to provide the ammunition required to try and keep his side in the Premier Division.
Without any league points since April and with their latest defeat on the road coming against Sligo Rovers on Monday, O’Neill is limited in terms of what he can bring in.
College have already lost Neil Farrugia and Gary O’Neill to Shamrock Rovers while Conor Davis has moved on to Derry City. To make matters worse, O’Neill looks set to lose skipper Liam Scales to Bristol Rovers in the coming days.
“It’s not going to be easy because you’re going to be promoting them from the 17s and 19s and see what else we can try and get in”, he said.
“It’s going to be tough because it’s a college directive that the lads have to be on scholarships to play.”
Two players who are expected to take up deals at the Bowl are Sligo’s Jack Keaney and Liam Kerrigan, both of whom were unused subs on Monday.
On the potential switches, O’Neill commented: “Nothing is done yet but hopefully we can get something sorted and they’ll slot in here.
“They’re two good characters and that’s the main thing, it’s what we look for here.”
Looking back on the 5-1 defeat to the Bit O’Red, O’Neill was happy with his team’s start before they crashed to a heavy loss.
“I thought when we were one up we were doing quite OK and causing them a few problems”, he offered.
“We were looking to add to that goal instead of conceding some really, really soft goals.
“Our defending at times was really poor and that’s cost us. We’re going to have to learn quickly.”
With four points between themselves and Friday’s opponents Finn Harps, a positive O’Neill knows his team will continue to battle against the odds.
“The easy option is to down tools, say it’s not going to happen and throw in the towel”, he rallied.
“But one thing I will say is no matter how many punches we took, we kept going.
“If we stick to that philosophy, we’ll at some stage get that win.”
