Stuart Byrne says Bohemians' season will depend on how a young squad copes with the pressure as the campaign wears on.
Keith Long's side started the season with a 4-1 loss at home to Derry City on Friday and face a derby with Shamrock Rovers next.
With three teams going down this season, ex-Drogheda United manager Mick Cooke had tipped Bohs as a team to worry about and Stuey echoed that point on Off The Ball as he reflected on the Derry game.
"To be honest, they played quite well at times and took their goal really well. Dinny Corcoran took his goal really well," he said.
"The only reason I would worry about Bohs would be Bohs is a big club with a big following and supporters have a tendency to get on the back of players.
"You have to be able to kind of take that little bit of stick because there's a little bit of pressure that comes there when you play for Bohs.
"With the younger kids, you'd be worried they may not be able to take that and of course, when you look at the fact that three go down this year, if you haven't won a game for three or four games, then it really becomes worrying.
"They've got to go and play Rovers now this week. Rovers are already looking for a win to get them up and running. Two defeats in a row for Bohs, it starts to look like pressure's on the squad and you feel that as a player. Keith Long's got a job to protect that squad as well as much as he possibly can."
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