It's week two of the League Of Ireland 2024/25 season and the Blues are on the road for the first time in the campaign.
Keith Long and his team travel to Weavers Park in Louth where they take on Drogheda in the hopes of securing their first three-point result of the year.
Last week's curtain raiser saw them share the spoils with Shels, marking the first time they have taken a point from the Dublin outfit since 2020.
The head coach, Long, will have been happy to see one of his new signings, Maleace Asamoah get on the score sheet on his debut, netting inside three minutes to take the lead for the home side. The Blues hung onto their lead until ten minutes to go when Sean Boyd levelled it up, leaving the two sides to split the spoils, honours even.
"Really Difficult Place To Go"
The conversation before kick-off last weekend focussed on the Blues needing a good start to their campaign, with the need to pick up points at every opportunity early on. They have gotten the start they would have wanted with a point against the favoured Shels, but this weekend attention turns to Drogheda, who were described by Head Coach Long as "seasoned campaigners," who have proved that they deserve their place in the Premier.
"They know how to win games," Long added, saying Weavers Park is a "really difficult place to go."
Drogheda were unlucky last week not to take something from their trip to Derry. They were beaten 2-1, having gone 2-0 down inside the hour, but they had managed to keep their hosts scoreless for the first half of play at the Brandywell.
Tonight will be the first chance for their fans to see their side in action at home and while the previous result between the teams stretches back some distance, it's the Drogs that have the bragging rights.
In their last eight meetings - admittedly stretching back to 2016 - Drogheda have won five, the Blues have won three, with no draws. One of those results - a Waterford win - came in the FAI Cup.
Reinforcements
If Waterford are to get over the line, they may well need the services of a handful of players returning from injury. Christie Pattison, Cameron Cresswell & Rowan McDonald all returned to training this week and are available for selection ahead of kick-off.
There were further signings for the Blues late on Thursday's deadline day. 20-year-old striker Connor Evans joins from Crewe Alexander and 23-year-old Harvey McAdam comes in on loan from sister club Fleetwood Town.
Evans spent three seasons at Crewe and has been capped with Wales at Under 18 level.
McAdam joined Fleetwood two years ago from non-league Ashton United and has made over 40 appearances for the Cods.
The highly-rated midfielder impressed against Waterford in their pre-season tour fixture at Fleetwood and is looking forward to the move, telling WaterfordFC.ie that he's "buzzing with the move, I think it will be a great move for myself. I think I'll do very well and I can't wait."
Kick-off in Weavers Park this evening is at 7.45 pm and WLR will bring you liver commentary from 7.30 pm thanks to McConnell's Toyota Waterford.
