Galway United will be hoping to deliver another positive result when Longford Town visit Eamonn Deacy Park for tomorrow's SSE Airtricity League premier division clash ( 7.45pm ).
Last Friday Vinny Faherty took his seasonal account to seven goals, registering a brilliant brace when United secured a valuable victory at Ferrycarrig Park against Wexford Youths.
Manager Tommy Dunne was satisfied by the display, but is adamant Longford will pose stern questions Corribside.
“It is another important home game,” Dunne admits. “We have started reasonably well at home, but we have to try to continue that. Longford are familiar foes in many ways, we played against them in pre-season.
“They've a decent group, I know a lot of their players didn't play in that match because they've such a big group. So we know what we are up against. We are under no illusions about how tough it is going to be. We are playing a team that hasn't been at full strength this season due to injuries.
“They have plenty of threats, just look at Don Cowan, who has come back in, he is a threat. Lee Duffy is a threat, so is David O'Sullivan when he is fit and on form. They are three of the quickest players in League of Ireland football, so overall we know we will have to be playing as well as we have played against the other teams at home to have any chance of getting a result.”
One of the most encouraging aspects of United’s campaign thus far is having accumulated 10 points from four matches at the Dyke Road venue.
“We want to win. We are coming into a tough schedule now, it will be hectic. For us we have to make sure everybody is doing things properly. We need to have a good week leading into the Longford game. For the two weeks after that it is maintenance then.
“We have to make sure we are focused solely on Longford. That is vital. A lot of the guys have confidence and they are very hungry to do well. They are training well, so any team we are going to play we feel we can give them a game.”
Compared to 2015 Galway have fared better dealing with injury setbacks due to the improved depth of the squad. “I agree that we are coping, but as long as we don't get too many knocks. Longford had six or seven out for a while, Dundalk couldn't cope with that many players missing. Last season we were missing 10 against Drogheda, we had two kids starting.
“As results go that was probably the best draw we had all year considering the circumstances. “
In-form attacker Faherty is thrilled with how United are developing. “After training in our gym session we were just remarking about the improvement compared to our first week back,” Faherty said. "It hasn’t been a conscious effort, it hasn’t been a conscious change or anything, but the standard of everything has just risen.
“We just need to keep pushing on, we’ve enjoyed a good start, but we need to build on it. We cannot just accept where we are at, we need to keep pushing, to keep wanting to do better. That comes from everybody in the group. It cannot just be one or two guys, every one of the 25 or so has to want the same thing.”
Galway United Supporters Trust will be running a bus to next Tuesday's EA Sports Cup quarter-final match between Galway United and Limerick FC at Markets Field, departing The Dail Bar at 4.30pm. Seats can be booked by contacting Ronan Coleman 087-6972823 or Dominick Walsh at 087-9163438.
Galway United will hold a fans forum with Tommy Dunne and the players on Wednesday May 4 at 9pm in the Claddagh Hall.
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