Ramblers are back on the road on Friday night, travelling south east to take on Wexford FC in Ferrycarrig Park. It’s a second away game in a row for Cobh, having drawn 1-1 in Treaty United last weekend.
The Rams have an impressive record in this tie, having gone the last 14 meetings between the sides unbeaten. Wexford’s last win against Cobh came in 2015, and the most recent clash was a 4-0 Ramblers victory in October. The Leinster side come into this game without a point from their opening three games, but pushed Shelbourne all the way last week as the Dublin side came out 1-0 winners in Tolka Park.
We have a number of injury concerns for the game. Pierce Phillips and Conor Drinan are likely to miss out while Martin Coughlan and Darren Murphy have also picked up knocks and will be assessed closer to kick-off. Caelin Rooney (suspended) and Regix Madika (long term injury) also remain unavailable. In brighter news, defender Ben O’Riordan appeared among the substitutes last time out for the first time this season and could make a first appearance of the campaign on Friday.
Manager Stuart Ashton gave his thoughts ahead of the game earlier this week,
“We take the pluses out of each game we’ve played so far. Last week we showed some good things, we came back into it and took the game to them, but without the clinical finishing. We have to look at that. We’ve got to shift the ball quicker to create those chances and be more clinical going forward. We could have been 1-0 up after a few minutes last week and it’s a different game then if that’s the case.
Looking ahead to Wexford, there’s no easy game in this league. We’ve got to go there with our game plan and execute it, knowing that it’s going to be a tough game.”
Having returned to full fitness experienced defender Ben O’Riordan also spoke to the media before the tie. The former Leeside man is eager to build on his 111 club appearances to date,
“The first few results haven’t gone our way but we know the quality is there. The confidence is still high in the squad and once we put a few results together we’ll be flying. We just need that one win to kick start the season.”
Kick-off on Friday night is at 19:45, with the game being streamed live here on LOITV.
