Cobh Ramblers host Waterford United in a vital clash at the bottom of the Airtricity League First Division at St. Colman’s Park on Saturday night. (Kick-off 7:45)
Cobh are currently second last in the table but a win on Saturday would move them to within four points of their opponents who sit third bottom while a defeat would further isolate the Claret and Blues from the chasing pack behind runaway leaders, Longford Town.
Rambers’ top-scorer, Conor Meade, is unavailable through suspension but manager, Dave Hill, is hopeful that some key players will return for the derby, he said: “It’s a big game at the bottom so it will be a big three points if we can get them.
“We should have a few lads back as well, we should have Bobby Donoghue and James Carson back and hopefully Davin (O’Neill) will be ok.”
Hill’s side have endured an injury crisis of late and he revealed that new signings will come in to supplement the current squad when the transfer window opens next month.
“We’ve lost a lot of players, we’re down (Roy) Kenny this week because of exams so we’re down to the bare bones really. We’ve got a lot of really young lads coming through who are acclimatising themselves to the league and the physicality of it, so it bodes well for the years to come.
“We’re in a real re-building process at the moment so when the transfer window opens in July there will be a few players coming in then.”
The Ramblers are now without a win in seven league games but Hill is confident his side’s attractive style of football will start to yield the results they deserve sooner rather than later.
He said: “We’ve been the most entertaining football-wise, is it getting us the results? Maybe not, but with the team we’ve got and the way we want to go it will pay dividends in the time to come.
“If you look at it from outside the box, the season as a whole hasn’t been very good, we’ve scored plenty of goals but if we shore the defence up we can crack on from there. We’re only halfway through the season so it’s been pretty entertaining for the home fans anyway!
“If we can put a run of three or four games together that can put us right back into the mix again. Not one team in the league that has given us a good hiding playing-wise, there were a few scorelines that were pretty poor but I think we’re playing nice, attractive, entertaining football.”
Preview by Sean Geary
