Galway United can take a huge step towards securing a top four finish, and at the same time end the similar aspirations of their hosts, when they head to the RSC this Friday to take on Waterford FC.

United are two places and three points above their opponents, and with a better goal difference, so if they extend their unbeaten run against the Blues to eight games – especially with a win – it would all but remove the Munster side from the equation in the race for a top four spot that will secure European qualification for next season if Derry City go on to win this year’s FAI Cup.

John Caulfield’s lowest point as United manager was arguably the 3-0 loss to Waterford in the 2022 First Division play-off final which saw him heckled and jeered by a section of United fans after the final whistle in the Markets Field.

Baying to throw him under the bus that night, just 12 months later they wanted to throw him up on their shoulders and parade him in celebration after he masterminded United’s stunning march to the First Division title with a staggering 25-point gap between themselves and runners-up, Waterford.

The Blues had gone on to lose the promotion play-off final in 2022 after that win over United, before going one better last year to join United in the top-flight this year, but if United can maintain their recent dominance over Keith Long’s side, European football next season will remain a possibility.

“It is a massive game on Friday, we have three days to recover from the Drogheda game as opposed to the two before it, so we have to see can we get our energy levels back up, we will try to freshen things up again.

“Waterford are a good team, another team around us in the pack, we have taken four points from our two games in the last couple of days and we will go to Waterford and try to win that game,” Caulfield said after last Monday’s scoreless draw away to Drogheda.

It was a tough watch, and probably an even tougher game to play in, up in Drogheda on Monday – Vince Borden said after the game that it was a battle between two sides who play very similar styles of football, and it can be hard to separate sides when that happens.

It didn’t help that the game came so close after Friday night’s win over league leaders, Shelbourne, a game that would have taken not just a physical toll, but a mental one as well, just as the previous Monday’s defeat to Shamrock Rovers would have done,

While not quite running on empty, it was no surprise that United looked quite ‘leggy’ in Drogheda on Monday night, and Caulfield admitted that this week will be all about recovery, with very little training being done.

Pictured: Ed McCarthy (left) congratulates Jimmy Keohane after the latter scored what proved to be the only goal of the game against Shelbourne last Friday night. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.