The Blues are set for a near-bottom of the table clash this evening with Dundalk at the RSC.
The 2019 league champions come to Waterford amid some of their worst form in recent seasons; they've lost four of their last five league games, being beaten by Drogheda, Derry City, St Pats, and Shamrock Rovers.
For a team that finished their winning campaign under Vinny Perth with 87 points on the board (27W, 5D, 4L) it's been a steep descent to the lower echelons.
This game at the RSC poses a massive opportunity for both teams. The Blues have a slender 1 point gap advantage over the visiting team (28 points to 27) while they do have two games in hand thanks to their European efforts.
A win by any means for Marc Bircham's team will give them just enough breathing room. Three points puts them ahead of Finn Harps and into seventh place in the standings and Ollie Horgan's Harps host the league leaders Shamrock Rovers at the same time; most would expect Harp's to remain stationery following that game.
The last time Waterford and Dundalk met in the league was in Oriel Park where the Blues came from behind to claim a 3-1 win thanks to goals from John Martin and Shane Griffin, while the last time they came to the RSC it was the away team grabbing three goals to nil to secure all three points.
Speaking to WaterfordFC.ie this week, the manager Marc Bircham was quick to remind fans of the importance of this game.
People will say Dundalk are down near the bottom of the table but they have some quality players in their squad so we have to prepare properly for that.
They have games in hand on us so we want to give ourselves the best chance to keep picking up points and look to move up the table.
We’re hopeful of having a bigger crowd than previous games too so that will really drive the players on. They thrive on a big crowd getting behind them; we know how much the fans love this club and I know the players will give everything for another three points.
Last weekend's Cup performance against Kilnamanagh provided entertainment aplenty, albeit the team didn't make it easy on themselves. A slow first half saw them head for the dressing rooms 1-nil up, but the manager was less than pleased with his team saying that they bored him.
I was bored watching them. There was no entertainment for me. They actually bored me, I wanted half-time to come quickly because I wanted us to pass and move the ball quickly; which we did in the second half. But again, they're a young group of lads, there's not much experience in there and their learning on the job.
If the first half was slow, the second half changed significantly. Three goals from Cameron Evans, John Martin, and Phoenix Patterson were more than enough to dispatch the non-league side and advance to the quarter-finals of the cup.
21-year-old Patterson has now popped up on the scoresheet in two of the last four games - netting the winner against Boh's earlier in August. The young Scot knows that this game poses the chance to put distance between themselves and Dundalk before the Louth outfit gets the chance to pull back their postponed fixtures.
It's a huge game. They're in the relegation battle with us, so we want to try and climb the league as high as possible and keep them down there - it's a huge game.
