After five games of the League of Ireland Premier Division, Waterford FC are third in the table with seven points of a possible fifteen on the board.
Keith Long's side have one away win to date, beating Drogheda 4-1 in round two, but have lost twice to Galway (2-1) and Derry (3-0).
Last weekend at the Ryan McBride Brandywell, Derry ran riot, to win in comfortable fashion, marking a first outing of 2024 that Waterford failed to score in.
"Coming to Derry is going to be tough, isn't it?" posited Head Coach, Keith Long.
"For a promoted team, new to the Premier Division - they finished second in the league two years running, they won the FAI Cup the year before last, they're a top side with top players so it was always going to be difficult - we didn't give ourselves a chance in the game, we didn't give ourselves any sort of platform to try and play and we need to learn the lessons from that."
The training ground will have been busy this week as Long and his backroom team "have a look at what we've done well and have a look at what we have to improve upon," with Dundalk likely to be tricky opponents tonight.
Under fire manager Stephen O'Donnell is yet to see his team win in 2024. In four games, they have lost three on the spin, drawing their opening game of the season with Shamrock Rovers.
Their last home game was a real decimation when Sligo Rovers hammered them 5-0, with four goals in the first half alone.
"They're a good side," says Blues midfielder Ben McCormack. "I think the results they've had don't reflect the performances they've had in the games that we all know they're like as a team. We know how good they are and how tough it is to go to Oriel. They've got beaten twice there this season, but I think they've probably only got beaten there two or three times the past few seasons."
The Head Coach will be without the services of both Darragh Power (suspension) and Darragh Leahy (injury) for the away day.
Leahy picked up a hamstring strain when playing on the artificial surface at the Brandywell last weekend, and assistant head coach Alan Reynolds is less than excited about the prospect of a second week straight on synthetic grass.
"It's not good for anyone. All the clubs get loads of injuries playing on that. I wouldn't mind the way they're all different types, even though they're astros, they're not the same which doesn't help. But look, it is what it is, we've trained on astro all week and we have for a while, so hopefully we can adapt to it quick enough and put in a performance."
