Cobh Ramblers return to St Colman’s Park on Saturday night, in what is interim manager Darren Murphy’s first home game in charge.
Athlone Town are the visitors to Cobh, the Midlands side who sit sixth in the First Division table, immediately above the Rams.
Last week’s 2-2 draw away to leaders Shelbourne made it three games unbeaten for Cobh, with those elusive play-off spots now looking that bit more reachable. Athlone suffered a 4-1 loss to Treaty in their last outing, following an FAI Cup exit to Waterford the week prior.
The sides last met in May, the Westmeath men winning 2-1. Athlone haven’t won in Cobh since March 2019 but have recruited strongly of late, including former Ramblers Garry Comerford.
Lee Devitt will return from his one game suspension on Saturday, while fellow left back Darryl Walsh is also available once more. Midfielder Pierce Phillips is the only possible doubt, having picked up a knock in Shelbourne.
Manager Darren Murphy spoke to the press ahead of the game,
“We’re concentrating on each game as it comes. We want to push that work ethic and see what the players can do.
Athlone won’t lie down, they’re going to come fighting. It’s up to us at our home ground to show what we’re made of. We’ll go in with our plan as we did in Shels last week. During the week we give the coaching we think is needed to carry out our plans. For the players, they just need to go out and give the performance.”
With two goals in his first two games, the in-form Nathan O’Connell also gave his views ahead of the tie,
“I’ve been doing well, finding my feet at this level. Darren and the lads are helping me big time, and it’s all working out on the pitch. We can see it ourselves that we are more than capable of climbing up that table.
“We were probably unlucky not to get the win up in Shels but we move on to this week. It’ll be a battle, we have our plans and hopefully we get our three points on the night.“
Kick-off on Saturday night is at 19:00, with the game being streamed live on LOITV here. An attendance of 500 spectators is allowed per Covid-19 guidelines and a limited amount of tickets will be on sale at the gate on a first come, first served basis.
