GALWAY United head into this Friday’s Connacht derby at home to Sligo Rovers (7.45pm) on their worst run in six years and badly in need of a result to get their season back on track.

The last time the Tribesmen lost three league games on the spin was all the way back in 2019, when Alan Murphy’s side lost 2-1 to Longford Town, Limerick FC, and Cobh Ramblers, all three games on the road; and it was road defeat last Friday which saw them match that run, a 1-0 defeat to Waterford coming hot on the heels of a 2-0 defeat way to St Patrick’s Athletic, and a 2-1 loss at home to Bohemians.

It is not just uncharacteristic territory for United: only once in John Caulfield’s managerial career in the League of Ireland has he presided over a three-game losing run, that coming at the tail-end of the 2018 season when his Cork City side were beaten at home by Sligo Rovers and Dundalk, with an away defeat to Bohemians sandwiched between those two results.

United will obviously hope this run is just a blip in the matrix, and there is no better game in which to try to reset than a provincial derby, especially at home. They will take heart from other sides having experienced similar dips in form in a season which has seen wild fluctuations: at half-time in their home game against Bohs last Monday week, they were top of the table. A game and a half later, they find themselves in eighth, but still only six points off the top.

One worrying stat from this season is United’s struggles to keep a clean sheet: they have managed just two in 15 games this season, both of which were kept by Evan Watts. At the same stage last season, they had kept nine clean sheets.

They were also a point better-off in 2024 than this season, in which it is a safe enough argument to suggest that the change of formation United have deployed, going from a flat back four last season to a 3-man back line with two wing-backs in the current campaign being a major reason for that change.

Yes, the switch has seen United create more chances, and they have the league’s top scorer in Moses Dyrer, who was this week named as the Soccer Writers Association Player of the Month for April, having also been on the six-man shortlist for the March award.

They have hit 19 goals in 15 outings this season, when it took them 23 games to hit the same mark last season; but it was also 26 games in the 2024 campaign before they conceded the 19 goals they have conceded already this season.

That’s the pay-off United face this season, being more open at the back in order to be more potent up front, but it should also be noted that they have missed some big players in the last few games, with Greg Cunningham, Vince Borden, Jimmy Keohane, and Garry Buckley all consigned to the treatment table.

In addition, Ed McCarthy and Conor McCormack are only easing their way back to action after long injury lay-offs, so there are some mitigating circumstances, but excuses only wash for so long, and with their next two games being against the bottom two in the table – and both at home, with Cork City visiting Eamonn Deacy Park next weekend – United need to make the Dyke Road venue a fortress once again.

Only Sligo Rovers are on a worse run of form than United, with just two points from their last five games, and just two wins all season, but like United, they have been hit by injury problems.

United will need to be on their guard with former striker, Wilson Waweru, expected to return from injury for the visitors on Friday where he will link up with two players who won the First Division title with their hometown club in 2023, Francely Lomboto and Ronan Manning.

That trio will all be keen to make a point on their former stomping ground, but United coped with Lomboto and Manning when ending a 29-year wait for a league win in the Showgrounds back in April, a Cian Byrne double sealing a 2-1 win for Caulfield’s side.

In relation to the loss to Waterford, Caulfield said: “It was a frustrating night for us, for a team that was good at both ends at set pieces, it was a soft goal to concede. Leahy, one of the smallest lads on the pitch, gets a free header from three yards out. I’m disappointed for our supporters who made a huge effort to travel down. Our energy levels were down. You can say you had three games in a week, but when you’re a professional footballer, it’s no excuse.”

United might understandably be low on confidence this Friday, but they are facing a side who should be at a lower ebb, and they need to make the most of that match-up to get their season back on track.

Pictured: Galway United manager John Caulfield who is looking for an improved display against Sligo Rovers at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday night.