Bray face Dundalk in an important game for both clubs at the bottom of the Airtricity League Premier Division in the Carlisle Grounds this Friday evening. Any other season, this would be considered a relegation six-pointer. Bray are currently sitting 9th with 18 points while Dundalk are three points behind in 10th.
The home side come into the game off the back of a scoreless draw away to Bohemians. They should take confidence from this and will undoubtedly be looking to claim all three points against the club from Louth. Bray's fans will be expecting a win.
Bray welcome back John Mulroy and Kieran 'Marty' Waters to the side, both players had been suspended for last weeks trip to Dalymount Park.
Bray fans will be happy to hear that there are no injury concerns for the game, leaving manager Pat Devlin with the nice problem of a selection headache as he has a full squad of players to choose from..
Devlin spoke about the game describing it as a game in which Bray "need to register a home win." However, it will not prove to be a walk in the park for Bray. Their home record this season has been poor to say the least. In their 9 home games they hove only claimed all three points on two occasions, beating UCD and Bohemians. They have suffered five defeats at home this season.
Dundalk's away form has been very similar to Bray's home form. In their 10 away games thus far, they too have only won two, losing five in the process. Both sides come into the game with very similar recent form. Of their last six games, both have drawn three and lost three making it tough to separate the two.
Dundalk head into the game unbeaten under caretaker boss Darius Kierans since he took the reigns in mid July. Dundalk have only one win against Bray in their last nine games and have only won two of their last eleven in the Carlisle, making it a tough task for them to claim all three points this at the seaside this weekend.
When asked about the match in Bray, Kierans said to the Dundalk FC website:
"The Carlisle Grounds is always a hard place to go and pick up three points."
"It's a match that offers us a chance to go level with Bray and we'll be going there to win the game, but we know the task facing us."
He also pinpointed Jason Byrne as being the main threat to his side:
"In Jason Byrne they have someone who can change a game and create something out of nothing."
Unfortunately Dundalk have not revealed their team news at the time of writing this so I am unable to bring you any injury concerns. I can confirm that they have nobody unavailable through suspension for the game.
To conclude, I personally can't pick a winner from these two very similar teams. If I was to put money on it, I'd probably go for a close game with the most likely outcome a 1-1 draw. If I was pushed to pick a winner, I'd have to go for a home win for The Seagulls..
No comments:
Post a Comment