With just two gameweeks remaining in the League of Ireland First Division, Cobh Ramblers head to Longford this Saturday still in the hunt of a play-off spot following a superb 4-0 win in Wexford last time out. Goals from Darryl Walsh, Pierce Phillips, Conor Drinan and Stephen O’Leary gave the Rams the victory in Ferrycarrig Park, leaving them three points behind UCD in the play-off positions.

Longford have all but secured a play-off position, thanks to a recent run of form that saw wins over Cabinteely, Athlone and UCD. The Midlands side sit third in the table, and while the league title is out of reach, they can still pip Drogheda to the runners-up spot.

Cobh were 2-0 winners when the sides met earlier in the campaign, as Conor Drinan and Stephen O’Leary found the net in arguably our best home performance of the year. A last away win in Longford came in July 2018.

From a team news perspective, David Hurley has completed his one game suspension but the injury picked up in the defeat to Cabinteely may force his absence to continue. Ben O’Riordan continues his recovery from a knee issue and may miss out this weekend once again. Cork City loanee Darragh Crowley has struggled with a knock since the Galway encounter but was fit enough to make last week’s bench and could be involved this time around.

With so few games remaining there is little room for error, something that defender Charlie Lyons picked up on this week when speaking to the press. The former Preston man has had a superb campaign at St Colman’s Park and is pleased with the way things are turning out this year,

“Last week was a very good performance all round. Wexford can be a tough place to go, especially when you need a result. We dealt with that very professionally and got the three points. Saturday night is now the biggest game of the season for us. It’s do or die from here on in. I still believe that we are in with a chance of the play-offs and if we just focus on ourselves, not worrying about other results, we can go there and get the win.”

Kick-off on Saturday is at 19:30. The game will take place behind closed doors and a live stream is available at LTFC for a cost of €5.

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