St Pat's need to 'reboot' their season - Johnny McDonnell

While Shamrock Rovers' winless start to the SSE Airtricity League season has raised a few eyebrows, St Patrick's Athletic have also endured a shaky time.

After a win and a draw from their opening two games, Tim Clancy's side had a weekend to forget, losing 5-0 at Dundalk on Friday before succumbing to a 2-1 loss at a Sligo Rovers team that was down to ten men for 70 minutes on Monday night.

Clancy described the defending as "mind-boggling" and "baffling" when he spoke to LOI TV after the latter game.

With in-form Bohemians visiting Richmond Park this Friday, former Saints player and manager Johnny McDonnell feels a return to basics is necessary to put Pat's back on the right track.

"Conceding five goals is a knock to your confidence and then to travel away up to Sligo on the Monday night, you'd want your next game to be at home," he told the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

"But to go up to Sligo and concede the goals the way they did against the ten men - Sligo looked like they had a lot of the play - it's just a lack of confidence around the group.

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"They need to reboot, they need to sit down and start the season now."

McDonnell felt the performances in the points gained so far, a draw with Derry City and 1-0 win over Shelbourne, were not overly impressive.

"I watched them against Shels and they were lucky to get the winner. Shels should have got something out of the game. The late goal against Derry as well," he said.

"They've had a rocky start. But sometimes you just have to knuckle down and