Damien Duff has outlined the next step for his Shelbourne side as they seek to finish the season on a high.
After watching them take a point against Derry City, just 12 days after they were seconds from doing the same at Shamrock Rovers, Duff paid tribute to his young players.
But after hailing their energy and effort, he pointed out that they needed to learn to be better in possession.
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“That’s the next side of it - creating more chances and taking care of the ball better, where you don’t have to defend wave after wave, like we did in the second-half (against Derry),” he said.
“If you take care of the ball, you build better, you transition better on the counter-attack with more calmness and quality and speed.
“That’s where you put them on the backfoot. But in the second-half they (Derry) were never really on the backfoot.
“I can’t fault them - effort, everything. We just need to take care of the ball better.”
He admitted to being “a tad disappointed” to only come away from Derry with a point, after Joe Thomson’s 83rd minute equaliser salvaged a draw for the hosts.
“On paper you’d say it’s a good point, but when you are up and there is so little time left, obviously it’s two points dropped. But it’s a good point,” he said.
Shels have come close to wins away to the top-two in such a short space of time, but Duff insisted: “Close never wins the race. It’s about getting over the line.
“Listen, we’ll get there. We are still a young team, we’re growing, it’s been a long season.
“Like I’ve said many times in the last few weeks, you can see the growth in the team, how far they’ve come from just sheer hard work, training and application in their work.
“I guess it’s a compliment to the guys that they are disappointed that they haven’t won at the Brandywell.”
Shels have a big few weeks coming up, with league games at home to UCD tonight and Drogheda United on Friday, before their final league game away to St Pat’s.
Then it’s off to the Aviva Stadium on November 13 for the FAI Cup final against Derry City.
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