The biggest game of the season - for the second week in a row - is upon the Blues this evening in Turners Cross.
Keith Long's side travel to Leeside to take on Cobh Ramblers in the First Division play-off final with all the marbles very much on the table.
Win or bust is the essence of the day as the Blues know that a loss in Cork will bring their season to an end, resigning them to playing First Division football again in 2024.
This is the second year that Waterford are in the playoffs, losing to UCD in the promotion/relegation final last season.
They came through their two-legged game with Athlone as 4-2 winners on aggregate, in no small part thanks to the heroics of 17-year-old Romeo Akachukwu who scored a second-half hattrick coming off the bench after an hour.
In their meetings so far this season, it's honours even between the sides with 2 wins each. Cobh have taken the two most recent results, including their last meeting at the RSC in September.
Speaking to WLR Sport in the lead-up to kick-off, First Team Coach Alan Reynolds is expecting a tough challenge from their Munster rivals but tells us that their focus will remain solely on themselves.
"Look, we're aware of the key players they have and the dangers they have - you know, the long throws and balls in the box and all this they do with their style of play which has worked for them - but they can do whatever they want. I just want us to come and be as focused and well prepared as we are, which I feel we are and I think we'll be ok."
Pressure may well be for tyres, but it's also something that can take hold when things are not going well on the pitch. A handful of Blues have been here before.
Niall O' Keefe, Shane Griffin and Daragh Power are in the middle of their third play-off campaign having played the promotion/relegation final that got them demoted two years ago, while both Killian Cantwell and Paul Martin are in their second. Roland Idowu would have been included if not for injury late last season.
"We'll see how they deal with it [pressure]," said Reynolds. Adding, "They coped with it well the last two games, but I suppose young players should have no fear. Us slipping up last year is something that should drive the players that were here last year. They know the hurt they went through and all they can do is give everything they've got and what will be will be."
