Dundalk's Muller enjoys the challenge

Hayden Muller has been flourishing in midfield since Jon Daly took charge of Dundalk FC last month, however the 22-year-old Englishman is happy to play wherever needed.

Muller came off the bench in place of the injured John Mountney at Galway United on May 24th, Daly’s first match in the dugout, and has since cemented his place in Dundalk’s midfield, forging a solid partnership with Paul Doyle over the last four games.

Both players were instrumental as The Lilywhites secured a 1-0 win over Sligo Rovers at Oriel Park to move off the bottom of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table.

Since signing from Millwall at the beginning of last season, Muller has surpassed 50 appearances for Dundalk and, barring a couple of pre-season matches this year, had been exclusively deployed at centre-back or full-back prior to Daly’s appointment.

“Growing up, I’ve always been a versatile player,” Muller told The Democrat. “I’ve never really just been labelled as a centre-back. I can play midfield, I can play right-back or left-back.

“I find it good because it’s a different challenge every game and I feel like I can adapt to all those positions. At the moment, I’ve had a run of games in midfield and I feel like I’m doing decent in there. It’s just about kicking on.

“If I’m going to be honest, I do like this midfield position most,” he added. “I can get forward a bit more and I think it suits me as well.

“I was in a double pivot in pre-season and then I think we had a couple injuries to our left-back, so (Stephen O’Donnell) put me back out to left-back. I enjoy it as well.

“Obviously if you’re getting game time, you’re getting game time, it doesn’t really matter where you are, you need to rack up appearances, especially at a young age.

“I think as soon as you get a run in any position, even if I was playing up front for example, if I’m giving my best for the team and we’re getting good results, I want to keep doing that because at the end of the day, professional football is a tough place.

“You’ve got people fighting for your shirt every day and no matter where you play, you need to go into training and it’s down to you to keep your shirt and that’s what I’ve hopefully been doing.”

In beating Sligo on Thursday night, Dundalk opened up a three-point gap over bottom-of-the-table Drogheda United ahead of the mid-season break, though it hasn’t exactly been plain sailing for The Lilywhites, who endured their worst-ever start to a League of Ireland campaign – a period which had seen five different managers in the Oriel dugout.

“It’s been difficult for all of us,” reflected Muller. “But obviously no matter who was in, whether it were Liam Burns or Jon Daly as it is now, the messaging has been pretty similar.

“It’s down to the squad to really drive it home in training and keep the standards up, keep getting good results on the pitch. No matter who’s our manager, it’s always down to the players really.

“That was the messaging from the gaffer from his first day really. We know the group’s too good to be where we are. We think we’re in a false position.

“Obviously the results haven’t showed that, but that’s how we feel and we feel like we can kick on and finish higher up the table.

“But it’s about showing the rest of the teams that and showing the crowd that, because obviously we know it in our group, but we need to prove that.”