It's the start of a massive four days for Waterford FC this bank holiday weekend.
Galway come to the RSC this evening for a clash of second versus third, with the sides separated by just three points in the standings.
The Blues registered their first win in four weeks last weekend when they beat Cobh 4-nil. It was a return to scoring for Phoenix Patterson who netted a brace in Colmans Park. The Scottish attacker felt ready for this condensed weekend which could shuffle the top of the table pecking order.
"We've played both of them already, so we know what we're coming up against. We've prepared well this week. We're looking forward to both games and we believe that we can take six points from these games. It's time to put more pressure on them and catch them up in the league."
This is the second round of games with both Galway and Cork that the Blues have had to deal with. In those two encounters, the Blues picked up just a point following a 2-2 draw with Galway and a 2-0 loss to Cork. The loss to Galway was a game that they should have won. Leading 2-nil at half time thanks to goals from Junior Quitirna and Eddie Nolan, it was a raucous home support that lifted their team to find their way to pull back the two-goal deficit. While it looks like a result that was thrown away, Patterson remarks that it's a tougher problem to deal with when the game is in the melting pot.
"We're aware that it's happening at the time and we're trying to gain more control of the game when it starts to go in their favour. Both of the goals that we conceded against Galway were mistakes, so if we could just cut those out we would have been ok. I thought that we had defended quite well, but it was just two mistakes that cost us. If we can eliminate that on Friday, we should be ok" said Patterson.
The Blues boss Ian Morris has set his tall out ahead of this weekend, stating that the goal is to come away with all six points on offer, but he does stress that it's not going to be a cakewalk. "They're a big tough old unit. They're probably not playing as well as they'd like to, but they grind results out and wear you down."
With a recent run of poor results now paused thanks to their Cobh win, Morris is hoping that it marks a turning point for the team who began the season so well. The manager notes that his players have made strides on the training ground, and when it comes to match days the statistics are in their favour also. Morris points out that they were clinical in both boxes last weekend and denied Cobh any real chances throughout the 90 minutes.
If Cork were to falter against Bray, Waterford could be top of the table by Tuesday morning. They are just five points off the Lee-siders ahead of this evening's kick-off. Patterson knows that this weekend can be a page turned for the team if they get the points they're looking for.
"We know if we get positive results, we'll soon climb up the league and be right at the top - where we should be"
