Despite seeing his side lose for the second consecutive game against Shamrock Rovers at Oriel Park on Thursday night, Dundalk manager John Gill was more than pleased with the performance of his troops, if not their slackness in defence for both of the visitors’ goals. A dominant performance was undone by the Lilywhites’ failure to fire in front of goal combined with two slip-ups at the back, though Gill feels there were many positives to take from another impressive pre-season display.
 
Speaking to dundalkfc.com afterwards, the boss said: “I’m happy with the performance, but I’m not happy with the result, obviously, and I’m not happy with the way we gave away the goals, particularly the second one. But people have to remember we’re playing Premier Division teams - First Division teams aren’t going to be as organised, I don’t think, as the teams we’ve been playing in pre-season. Rovers are a good side, make no bones about it. It was a good game for the club, a good game for the fans, and it was a great game for us to run through the squad.
 
“We have a lot to think about. I have six or seven positions that I know are nailed down - there’s three, maybe four, that are probably up in the air, and the players know that. It was great tonight, because we were able to utilise all of our squad, bar young Stefan, who got ninety minutes against Bray last week. And, in fairness, all the lads that came on done very, very well. We have a lot of versatility; we can move fellas that can play in different positions right through the pitch.
 
“I didn’t see it, but I’m led to believe that the first goal wasn’t a free-kick, but it was a great strike. Against the breeze, I thought we were comfortable in the first-half - they didn’t really trouble us. We created more chances than they did. We said at half-time, we were going to be patient and don’t try to force the game and go long ball because the wind is there - try to be patient and build it up, because we knew that they were going to sit back. We were in control of the game, but we gave away the ball, they played a little triangle and got to the end-line and put in a great cross for their second goal. When you give away a goal like that against a team like Rovers, who are very well organised defensively, you really are giving yourself a mountain to climb. But we kept at it and created chances.
 
“We’re happy with how it’s going, we’ve trained really, really well - we just need to maybe brush up on a few things and be more ruthless in the last third, and stop being as sloppy as we have been in our own third - Rovers’ second goal came from us being in good possession of the ball. But, otherwise, we’re happy enough. We have two big tests next week. We’ll train Saturday, we’ll train Sunday, we play Bohs on Tuesday, we train Wednesday and then we have Derry next Friday. Pre-season has gone like clockwork. Touch wood, we’ve picked up little or no injuries - they’re in great physical condition - so we’re pleased with how it’s gone so far.”