The second set of Premier Division fixtures get underway this Friday evening with Sligo Rovers facing the lengthy trip to the RSC to take on Waterford, kick-off 7.45pm.
Over 300 kilometres separate the clubs geographically, but there are just five points between the sides in terms of points on the table, ahead of what is another huge game for the Bit O’Red.
This is the second time Rovers will come up against the Munster men this season. Waterford narrowly overcame Sligo on the opening night of the season, claiming the spoils with victory courtesy of a dramatic 3-2 win at the Showgrounds back in mid-February.
Ahead at the break through Rowan McDonald and Tommy Lonergan, Keith Long’s side were pegged back courtesy of Owen Elding’s first senior goal for Rovers. John Russell’s side dominated for a spell and were extremely unfortunate not to have come away with at least a share of the points. A missed penalty was quickly followed by a Conan Noonan strike for the Blues and despite a debut goal from Jad Hakiki, the visitors held out for the win.
Both sides have found league points difficult to come by recently with Rovers having picked up just one point in their last five, while Waterford have lost all of their recent five.
In team news, Rovers will welcome both striker Cian Kavanagh and midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes back to the fold following suspension. Harvey Lintott and Ollie Denham are set to miss out again as they continue to recover from knocks. Wilson Waweru also remains sidelined.
Speaking to sligorovers.com ahead of Friday’s contest, Russell says he is pleased with how his squad have prepared having recovered well from a loss to Galway United at the Showgrounds last Saturday evening.
“The only way we can really recover from past defeats is to go out and win matches and that’s what we will try to do in the next few weeks, starting Friday”, he said.
“We were disappointed after the Galway game but we asked the players to dust themselves down and re-focus and they have certainly done that during the week in training.
“We are fully aware of the importance of this game and what getting a result down there would mean for us. The players are all working hard and both my staff and I have tremendous belief in this squad, as I have said previously.
“Waterford are again going to be tough to break down and they have a lot of attacking talent in their squad. We’re going to have to be at our best and at it from kick-off, but I’m happy that we’re prepared. We won’t have Ollie or Harvey and that’s a blow but it’s great to have Jake and Cian back as they are two big players for us and are both very important to the way we play.
“It’s a long trip for us and our supporters but they travelled in big numbers this time last year so hopefully our fans will follow us to Waterford again this weekend.”
David Goulden