Dundalk boss Noel King says he’ll continue working with Brian Gartland and Liam Burns for foreseeable future

Just over a fortnight since taking the reins at Oriel Park, King has overseen a win, a draw and a loss in his three games, although supporters have also noticed that it’s been Gartland and Burns - who had been in interim charge after Stephen O’Donnell’s departure - leading most of the operations from the dugout.

King was asked about adopting more of a watching brief after last month's win over Bohemians, but following the first defeat of his reign, a 2-1 Louth derby loss to rivals Drogheda, the 67-year-old was again queried on the roles of head of football operations Gartland, and first-team coach Burns in the weeks ahead.

“We’ll continue doing what we’re doing, it’s not a panic situation,” said King, with Monday’s defeat leaving the Lilywhites five points adrift at the bottom.

“We’ll just keep going, try to improve and identify where we could improve and go from there. It’s not a question of who does what, it’s a question of getting the team right and getting points on the board.”

“I don’t think I took a back seat completely. We have a staff. We have people contributing in the staff, if that makes things better, why would you change? That's the principle.

“Brian is a good lad and an experienced fella. I think in time he will have to do his other post as well, but maybe not just yet.”

Dundalk suffered a first defeat to their neighbours in almost two years courtesy of a 94th-minute Hayden Cann strike but King believes his side were the better team in the Bank Holiday Monday clash, having levelled on 78 minutes through a fine Jamei Gullan free-kick.

“I thought we were the better team to be honest, I really did. There was some good play and some good chances, that's football. It was exciting wasn’t it? A good feisty derby,” said King, with Dundalk facing an away trip to Waterford next Friday.

“The points being shared would have been alright for us, but now it's a bigger gap. Drogheda have extended it to five points. At the same time, we have 20-odd matches to go.

“If we had won it wouldn't have saved us, if we lost it doesn't put us down, it’s just run of the mill stuff, you get going again and we’ll see how it pans out in Waterford.”

Despite this being Dundalk’s worst start to a season in the club’s history, King insists his side will be ok come the end of the campaign and says it’s how they respond to setbacks which is key.

“I think we’re alright, I think we’ll be ok, I hope. It’s a good group and it’s about how we respond now,” he added.

“They are experienced players. You have to deal with defeats, you can’t go through a season without experiencing that. I don’t know any team who has anyway.

“That's part and parcel of football, win, lose, draw and then you start again and try to get back on the road, Waterford (next) has to be the focus.”

Yesterday's derby at Weavers Park was also stopped momentarily on two occasions due to flares being thrown onto the pitch from the away section, with King adding: “It should not be done but it has happened, I can't do anything about that. I suppose it did (hurt our momentum). We were on a buzz, but I have no comments on that one.”