It’s been somewhat of a mixed bag for Sligo Rovers this season. With nine games to go, the Bit O’Red find themselves out of reach of the European spots with involvement in this year’s relegation scrap looking as unlikely. Rovers have pulled off so
It’s been somewhat of a mixed bag for Sligo Rovers this season.
With nine games to go, the Bit O’Red find themselves out of reach of the European spots with involvement in this year’s relegation scrap looking as unlikely.
Rovers have pulled off some notable results against the top three this season, but have also been beaten by two of the four teams below them.
Mentioning Sligo’s diverse form so far, Liam Buckley says it’s simply an issue of turning up every week no matter the opponent.
“For me, in this league, this season, you can’t expect the opposition to be this, that or the other," he explained.
“We’ve beaten Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk who are top three. But we’ve also lost to Finn Harps who are down the bottom. We’ve also struggled against UCD.
“You have to play well every game. Otherwise you won’t win matches. We have had some awful games this year where we just haven’t turned up.
“So you have to make sure you turn up for every single game. I would like to be able to replicate a performance each week. We’ve had to chop and change because of injuries and suspensions so that doesn’t help.”
Extending their unbeaten run at the Showgrounds to ten games with Saturday’s draw against Bohs, Buckley says he felt a point a piece was fair gain for both camps.
Danny Mandroiu gave the Gypsies the lead with his 37th minute penalty after Danny Kane tripped Luke Wade-Slater inside the area. But Sligo fought back to level the tie before the break through David Cawley.
The Rovers manager said he felt a third goal, had it arrived, would have won the game.
“We were marginally the better team in the first half and there wasn’t a lot in the second half," Buckley continued.
“It was scrappy at times but it was just a pity we couldn’t find the lead.
“We were bitterly disappointed to give away the penalty at that stage because we opened up quite well. But when you go a goal down in those sort of games it can be difficult because those can be defining moments.”
Up next for Rovers is the visit of Cliftonville on Thursday, after the postponement of Saturday’s scheduled league game with Dundalk. This, before a trip to Balbriggan to face Glebe North in the FAI Cup the following Friday.
Buckley is taking it one game at a time as he tries to close the gap between Sligo and the chasing pack.
“We now have nine games to go. We need to keep our foot on the pedal and try to pick up as many points as we can.
“There’s also a cup there to be won. So we need to address every single game as we go along.”
