Galway United manager John Caulfield says the idea of ‘revenge’ doesn’t come in to the equation as the Tribesmen head back to Richmond Park this Friday night for a second meeting in five days with St Patrick’s Athletic (7.45pm).

United bowed out of the FAI Cup at the quarter-final stage in Inchicore last Sunday, losing in extra-time in a game which they probably shaded matters in the regulation 90 minutes, and the players must put that disappointment behind them as they go in search of valuable league points in their bid to maintain their top-flight status.

There are just seven games left in the season, and United’s next three could go a long way to determining their fate. They go into Friday’s game – which is being televised live on Virgin media Two – sitting eighth in the table, level on points with Sligo Rovers in the play-off spot, but just above their Connacht rivals on goal difference.

The two sides meet in Eamonn Deacy Park on Monday night (7.45pm), and United are at home again on Friday week when basement side Cork City visit the Dyke Road venue. Win those two home games, and Caulfield’s side will be able to breathe a little easier down the final stretch of the campaign.

Drop points and things will get a little hairy: lose either home game – perish the thought of losing both – and United will be in real trouble, but for now, all the focus is on Friday’s trip to Dublin.

“I’m not sure about owing them one, you just have to come out and play and get stuck into them. That’s what we have to do,” Caulfield said when asked about the need to even the score on Friday night after last Sunday’s cup defeat.

“The lads gave everything, we know that, it’s just that the problem for us at the minute is that we need to just turn it around and get a result,” the United manager said after Sunday’s game.

United went into that cup tie as underdogs, and they did need a 90th-minute equaliser from David Hurley to force extra-time, but for much of the game before that they were the more dangerous-looking team.

They had a glorious chance to open the scoring in the first-half only for Jimmy Keohane to scuff his shot when clear through on goal; and while there was no argument with the red card picked up by Killian Brouder in extra-time for a foul on Mason Melia, there were questions as to whether the Pats man should have been on the field after a crude challenge of his own in the first-half.

“No one really gave us a chance, but in the first-half the game boiled down to we had the best chance in match. A fantastic move, a great passing move, Jimmy [Keohane] straight through but didn’t connect with it properly and you’re going in at half-time disappointed you are not 1-0 up.

“There was an incident here in the first-half when Melia lunged. I think in lots of cases, that was over the ball and would have been a straight red card, you could see he had lost the head, a few of those decisions at the moment just aren’t going our way,” Caulfield lamented after the game.

Sunday’s game started with the home captain Joe Redmond presenting a wreath to United skipper Brendan Clarke in memory of Ollie Horgan; and Pats manager Stephen Kenny spoke graciously of the difficult times United have been through in the past month or so.

United will hope that Sunday’s game will be a turning point for, while the result went against them, the performance was as good as there has been for the last couple of months. They just need to put the ball in the net, but Caulfield insists there will be no cup hangover this week.

“They are professional players and have to get back in and we have to refocus. I mean you get the disappointment out of your system tonight [Sunday] and you refocus tomorrow for next week, all the talk from tomorrow, we’ll be out next Friday and try get a result here,” he said.

Brouder will be suspended as a result of last Sunday’s red card, while Conor McCormack is also a major doubt after picking up a back injury after he was introduced as a substitute on Sunday. Greg Cunningham is also a long-term absentee: he has missed the last three games, with Caulfield saying the former Republic of Ireland senior international “won’t be back for a while”.

Pictured: Ed McCarthy opened the scoring for Galway United in their 3-1 win at home to St Patrick’s Athletic back in June, his only goal of the season: both he and United could do with him finding the net again in the coming week. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.