Waterford FC have the chance to preserve their status in the Premier Division this evening - but while a home win will go a long way towards that goal, other factors out of their control will have a bearing also.
Marc Bircham's team host St Pats for potentially their final game of the season. The situation is ultimately quite simple - Waterford need to better Finn Harps result to guarantee their safety for 2022.
When the Blues kick-off at the RSC, Harps will be getting underway with Longford in Ballybofey.
The sides are locked on 41 points apiece on the table with Harps well ahead on goal difference. They host the already relegated Longford and the odds heavily suggest that they will come through that game with the result they are hoping for. If the Blues players are to go to bed tonight secure in the top flight, they're going to need Longford to do them a favour, but goalkeeper Brian Murphy points out that recent weeks games have not yielded the return they would have hoped for.
Results haven't gone our way in the last few weeks, you know, we've been in winning positions, and we have been able to get over the line, but I mean, that's football, we've worked so hard to get in a position where we've given ourselves a chance to get out with that playoff position and we've not taken it yet. We're going into Friday's game and we just need to put on a performance and see what happens after that.
Last weekend, the Blues had the chance to put some daylight between themselves and the playoffs. With Harps drawing 2-all and only picking up a share of the points, Waterford were well placed to take three and go two points the better. Longford's form all season has been bad and their status as First Division destined for 2022 tells its own tale. The manager was speaking to WLR this week, and he lamented the lack of killer instinct that was needed to take the win.
We didn't really want to focus on it but we always saw it coming. We've had such a hard season to get through and we're such a small squad and so many lads patched up and we just didn't have that composure up at Longford. Looking back on the game we had a number of chances number; just couldn't get it over the line.
If the job was daunting last week, it has become even more tasking seven days later. John Martin, Darragh Power, Jack Stafford, and Greg Halford are all suspended and will be unavailable to Bircham. On the injury front Prince Mutswunguma, Isaac Tshipamba, and Callum Stringer are all out while Kyle Ferguson is a doubt ahead of kick-off. The London native knows that they have to throw everything at it, but with about twelve outfield players available, he paints a dour picture.
Even more depleted squad with suspensions but then add on injuries to that and it's literally down to the bare bones. We've probably got 12 outfield players for the game. All pressure is off us. We've got nothing to lose, hopefully, we can pull off a bit of a miracle and get over the line.
While the situation could be a lot worse, it doesn't alleviate the pressure that the team is under. Since the change of management, it has been a mostly upward trajectory with the team going on several runs of positive results. Murphy, who had been sidelined by the previous management team regained his rightful place in the starting lineup in a team with plenty of youth blended with experience.
I think we've been nothing short of outstanding overall since July. We've given ourselves a great chance but unfortunately, our start to the season has cost us at the moment.
We have a small squad, but we have a very good group there in terms of commitment and wanting to do well for the club - that's important to have. If we didn't have that, we would have been relegated long ago. We're in with a fighting chance and we'll give it a go on Friday and if we can get a result and the other result goes our way then; you never know it could be a good night on Friday.
Murphy's positivity is admirable considering the weight of expectation from the fan base. Nobody wants to see the team playing in the first division due to the repercussions that would bring. An exodus of players who want to play at the top level would be likely, while the manager's position is unknown if he was expected to coach a team fighting for promotion.
Bircham's focus won't have turned to his future yet, as they have this weekend to deal with first and he makes the point that at this point in the season, there are some unique challenges that the squad will be dealing with for the first time.
I think physically when you come into the end of the season - just in my experience when I played it was just a routine, you get into it. But for these young players, it's mentally draining. Normally at the end of the season, experienced pros can get mentally jaded, but to go through the experience they have done this season, with the COVID, with the lockdown, with being rock bottom of the league to then coming back. I'd say other than five or six it's their first year of being a professional and playing any sort of games on the trot; let alone playing twenty. They were always going to be mentally jaded towards this end. We've tried to spark them and credit to them, performances have still been good. They've still been a lot better than what they were and what they were performing at.
With ninety minutes ahead of them and a chance to put the season to rest on the best possible note - albeit with a bit of luck needed along the way - the manager and his charges know that one (hopefully last) roll of the dice could be enough.
I think we can. The fans can do that when it's matchday, the fans are packed in there and as you've seen, they get the best out of the players and I think in the week it's more mentally draining for them, but on match days the crowd can really make a difference and hopefully they can do that weekend.
To date he is the player of the Championship
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