Looking to "bounce back" from last week's disheartening performance against Cobh Ramblers, the Blues return to the RSC for the visit of Finn Harp on Friday evening.
The 1-0 result at the hands of Cobh could well have been a drawn game if Niall O' Keefe's goal had been allowed to stand - as it should have been. Ryan Burke was flagged for offside, despite not making contact with the ball as had been alleged.
Regardless of what should or could have been, the manager Keith Long told WLR Sport after the game that they did not deserve anything regardless as his side had failed to perform on the night.
The game came at the end of a week-long mid-season break and Long wondered might that break have played a part in his side lacking the required intensity to win on the road. He said, "We lacked a bit of energy...but we felt that we came back in and the boys were good. We had four good sessions prior to the Cobh game and yeah, we were disappointed."
Long makes the point that the disappointment is relative to the standards that they have set for themselves since he took charge of the side. We have seen a handful of games where this Blues team has blown the barn doors off the opposition, scoring 5, 6 or 7 goals on more than one occasion.
They had beaten already beaten Cobh 3-1 & 5-0 earlier in the season.
"We conceded a goal on the counterattack, which was the theme for the night and has been a trend in a lot of the games so far," Long noted. "In so far as we're dominating possession, having a lot of the ball and teams are dropping off and playing on that counterattack. We know that's what we face and we didn't manage those moments as well as we would have liked throughout the game," Long told WLR Sport this week as he readies his team for the Harps visit.
While it would be easy to start looking at the playoffs - as they are now the most likely end to this season - Long stresses that they have not crossed his mind yet. He is firm in his belief that "the next game" is the only one that counts. "Our focus has to be on us," he says. "To make sure that we don't see a repeat performance of last Friday, because if we do, we'll come unstuck."
Their opponents this week - Finn Harps - are fighting to have any hope of making the playoffs. They are in eighth place having lost six of their last ten games; winning twice and drawing twice. They have won five games in all so far this season.
Kick-off at the RSC this evening is at 7.45 pm and Ray Scott will have the updates on-air throughout the game.
