‘I don’t know what went wrong’ – New boss Noel King says Dundalk are in a good place now as derby looms

In his second match since taking the reins at Oriel Park, King led the Lilywhites to a scoreless draw against league leaders Shelbourne on Friday night, having kicked off his tenure with a victory over an in-form Bohemians side last week.

Although Dundalk remain bottom of the Premier Division, after the worst start to a campaign in their history, they could overtake ninth-placed Drogheda with a win in Monday’s Louth derby. King hopes their rough patch has come and gone as they look to lift themselves off the bottom.

“Before I came, I would have looked at the lads who I know and said, ‘My god, you have them in your team? You’ve half a chance’. That would be my view of it,” said King after Friday’s draw at home to Shels.

“Obviously, I don’t know what went wrong, these things happen in football and certainly every team will get a bad patch. I was talking about maybe our bad patch has come and is gone and hopefully doesn’t come back again, but that would be the thinking. The confidence grows with that. You have to keep going, it’s only a start really.

“I can only talk about [my] two games. We won 2-0 against Bohs and 0-0 [against Shelbourne]. From my perspective, I’m happy with the team, their ability and their attitude. There are some really good players. All positivity.

“Football can be simple, it can be as complicated as you want it to be. You need a bit of luck in football, so at the moment, the luck seems to be gradually swinging towards us and we welcome it.”

Having picked up a fifth successive clean sheet at home in their draw against Damien Duff’s side, King says the mood in the Lilywhites dressing room is high despite their league position.

“I think the performances have been very good. The players have been a credit to the club,” he added.

“The preparation has been great with the staff, the mood is very good. The first victory helped everyone's momentum. It gives you a buzz playing against the top-of-the-table team at home at this stage. It’s obviously going to be a difficult game, I thought we played well. We had more chances than them, certainly. I’d say they’re happy with a draw - I certainly am.”

Up next is the short trip to Weavers Park to take on neighbours Drogheda, with King adding: “We know the importance of it, it’s a derby. If we win, we go on top of them. So that’s a massive match for us. That has to be the focus, all the other stuff is just noise.”