Club legend John Caulfield is looking to frustrate Cork City again

Galway United manager John Caulfield. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Form is with Galway United for tonight’s First Division visit of Cork City but Rebels legend John Caulfield knows his old club too well for complacency to be entertained.

The Tribesmen are on a run of six wins and one draw, sharing second place with Treaty United and closing to within nine points of leaders Shelbourne.

For City, three league draws in a row were punctuated in between by an FAI Cup victory at top-flight Sligo Rovers but wins are imperative to drag themselves away from the lower reaches of the table.

City should have four, rather than three, victories on the board by now. Leading in stoppage time against Caulfield’s side in May, they were stunned by the concession of Maurice Nugent’s equaliser.

“We defended poorly for their goal,” reflected Cork boss Colin Healy. “John’s teams work right until the very end, so we’ve got to be careful of that again.”

That’s the intention again from the Galway boss. Ahead of the game at Eamonn Deacy Park that will be watched by 800 fans, he said: “If we don’t play to our best, we won’t get the result. We need to be at it from the start against them.”

Galway’s Carlton Ubaezuonu misses out due to injury, as does Jonas Häkkinen, Gearóid Morrissey and Steven Beattie for the visitors.

Shelbourne make the short trip to UCD, Treaty United host Cabinteely while Bray Wanderers welcome Wexford to the Carlisle Grounds.

Due to the involvement of three teams in the Europa Conference League this week, there’s only one Premier Division game tonight.

Drogheda United, who manager Timmy Clancy claims are in a relegation battle after last week’s defeat to Waterford, travel to Derry City. He at least has defenders Dane Massey and James Brown available after suspension.

Meanwhile, Marc Bircham’s heroics at Waterford have earned him a two-year contract extension from the club’s new owner Richard Forrest.

The former QPR and Millwall midfielder took over at the RSC in May when them anchored to the bottom of the table and reeling from a Covid-19 outbreak within the squad.

Gradually, he’s overseen a turnaround, underlined by their four-match winning run ahead of the visit of Bohemians on Saturday.

“I’m delighted to get this sorted,” he said of the deal extending till 2023.

“It’s been a really enjoyable few months since I’ve arrived here and we’re building momentum around the club."