Blues set for league return with three massive games
A big week lies ahead for Waterford FC manager John Coleman and his players. Photo: INPHO
Waterford FC will return to action in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division for the first time since losing to bottom-side Cork City at the end of last month, when John Coleman’s side will have two games in the space of three days.
The Blues, who have picked up just one point from their last four league games – that was a scoreless draw with Drogheda United - will be hoping that they can steady the ship after losses against the bottom two sides in the division, Cork and Sligo, and cup exit to the former.
They will make the trip to Dalymount Park on Friday night, where they’ll take on a Bohemians side that they’ve defeated in their last two games, including a 2-1 win in the capital last May, where goals from James Olayinka and Tommy Lonergan gave the Blues the win.
Coleman’s men backed that up with a 2-1 win in the RSC back in June, where first-half goals from Padraig Amond and Conan Noonan gave the Blues the win. But since then, they’ve somewhat struggled for results, with just two league wins since at home to Cork and away to Galway United.
Sitting just four points clear of clear of Galway United and Sligo Rovers, who are tied together on 30 points and will clash on Monday, the Blues will need a result from their next couple of games as they also face Shamrock Rovers at the RSC on Monday next in a rearranged fixture before travelling to Shelbourne.
There’s no doubting that those three games will certainly set the tone for whether or not they’ll be in a playoff situation. The losses to both Cork and Sligo before a three-week break is worrying, but the performances haven’t really been good either.
The trip to Dalymount to face Alan Reynolds' men comes at a time when they lost their last fixture against Derry City, against ten men, but with this Blues side currently lacking confidence, a point on the road would be seen as a big point.
Although Waterford won’t fear Bohs, it’s just a case of where the team is at the minute, mentally? They’ve struggled for results before that ended in a seven-game losing rot, and these three upcoming fixtures are not easy by any stretch of the imagination.
The focus will be on Bohs, and it will be a case of one game at a time, but you can’t not think about the run of results. As I said, a point would be a big point, but this group has upset the apple cart before and they can do it again.
