BOHEMIANS BOSS Keith Long says he is unaware of any interest in Dawson Devoy amid talk the player could leave the club during the summer transfer window.
The 20-year-old scored at both ends as Bohemians were beaten 3-2 by Derry City on Friday.
The youngster inadvertently headed Will Patching’s free-kick into his own net, before recovering from this setback to score a spectacular long-range goal in the dying stages.
And the attention then turned to Devoy’s future after the game.
MK Dons initially engaged in talks to sign the player back in January, however, a deal could not be reached.
But there have been suggestions that the League One side may now revive their interest in the 20-year-old, who has registered seven goals so far in the Premier Division this season.
Yet Long played down this speculation when speaking to reporters on Friday.
“I don’t know, if there is any interest, it hasn’t been brought to my attention by the club,” the manager said. “Obviously, he was well sought after in the last window, he’s rapped in another great strike from distance tonight so I’m sure he’ll come to the attention of clubs. I suppose that’s the nature of it a little bit, yeah, so we’ll see what happens over the next month or so.”
While Devoy may not necessarily be one of them, Long did confirm there would be players departing the club in the coming weeks.
“More immediate will be one or two players that will leave the club that weren’t involved tonight. You can read into that pretty easily,” Long said.
“It will become clearer later in the week when things are done. There will be players moving out.”
Two of the individuals in question are Stephen Mallon and James Finnerty, whose moves to Cliftonville and Galway (on loan) were subsequently confirmed at the weekend, as was Bohs’ signing of 26-year-old Scottish winger Declan McDaid from Dundee.
He is not the only player recruited by the Dublin club of late, with John O’Sullivan, Ryan Burke and Josh Kerr arriving from Accrington Stanley, Mansfield and Airdrieonians respectively.
Long believes the additional experience provided by these new faces can help lessen the errors and naivety that have often undermined Bohemians’ good play this season, leaving them in a disappointing sixth place and 25 points adrift of leaders Shamrock Rovers.
“I think a little bit of experience coming in will help us certainly, John O’Sullivan at 28 has a great profile, he has been around the leagues at a good level.
“Josh Kerr coming in at 24 has played a little bit now, Ryan Burke less so but has played men’s football in the UK.
“So we hope that it will give us a bit of a bounce and the balance of the squad, we’re very young but at the same time now there are no excuses really, you can’t squander or give away the chances and goals that we did against a team like Derry tonight, they’re going to punish you.
“That’s the disappointing aspect and those that have come to watch us week on week have seen that far too often this year.”
Long also revealed he would get a closer look at his new signings in a behind-closed-doors game on Saturday.
“We’ve got a game tomorrow so ultimately we have to try and improve their fitness levels because they’ve had an off-season.
“So they’re coming into us and they’re playing a little bit of catch up because we’re in season, so we’ve got to give them time to try and get ready and up to speed to try and impact us because we’re crying out for it, really.
“If you look at the options on the bench tonight, Liam Burt takes ill throughout the day, it happened to us last week with Tyreke Wilson, and we’re unable to use the bench.
“Tonight a lot of young lads are on the bench and obviously the reinforcements, the players that we’ve brought in, is a recognition of the fact that we need to improve the squad.”
