'That's probably Derry City at their strongest' claims Dundalk boss Jon Daly

​The home side could've clinched all three points on the night if it wasn't for a spectacular save from Brian Maher to deny Jamie Gullan in the second half but given Dundalk's current predicament, Daly quite happily accepted a point which moved the Lilywhites closer to their Co. Louth neighbours Drogheda.

It was the first full week of training Daly has been afforded since his appointment and the former Rangers striker felt they got their tactics right on the night.

"I'm pleased," he said. "We've obviously done a lot of work on tactics and gameplan throughout the week and I thought the boys implemented it really, really well.

"I thought we had the better chances throughout the 90 minutes and unfortunately couldn't take one. Whether that was a lack of concentration on the last action or a fantastic save from Brian Maher but I'm really pleased coming out of that and the group has to take a lot of credit."

The result stretched Dundalk's record of consecutive clean sheets at Oriel Park to an impressive SEVEN - not bad for a team propping up the league table!

"It's a good record. Seven clean sheets at home is no mean feat and especially given the situation the team is in.

Some of our attacking play and combination play was really good. That's probably Derry at their strongest. I think they have most of their players available they're very strong. You saw that with the quadruple change they made in the second half. They can change nearly 40% of their team in one fell swoop and try to swing the game in their favour and we had to adjust to that quickly and the boys did really well.

"We're asking questions of Derry who are arguably one of the best squads in the league with the strength and depth they have. We created some good chances. We made them defend at times and it's just about trying to build on that."

It's a step closer to second from bottom Drogheda and Daly is hoping to build on a morale-boosting performance against one of the title favourites.

"It's one game and we're one point closer to Drogheda. First task for me and the group is to get above them. We've closed the gap on them, That was my first target when I came in. Can we get off the bottom of the league and they focus on the teams above us after that and try and close the gap on everyone else.

"Once we get ourselves off the bottom of the league I think we can start being concerned about what comes after that."