When Galway United lost for the first time this season, back on May 1, they bounced back by going on a four-game winning run, and John Caulfield will hope for a similar response tonight when he takes his side to the Carlisle Grounds to take on Bray Wanderers (7.45pm).

Longford Town inflicted that first defeat four months ago, and United’s second defeat of the season came last weekend at the hands of the same opponents in a game in which the United manager admits too many of his players failed to perform in the opening half.

“We will have to play much better. Generally this year, we have been very good, we have been really consistent, and the lads were in the second-half, but unfortunately the first-half we were off the pace, on the back foot, and that was disappointing.

“To be fair to these guys, they have always bounced back, and you hope they do again. There are seven games to go, the biggest game is Friday night and there is nothing won until you actually have a trophy in your hand. We go to Bray, we have to be good from the start to the finish, if we are not, we won’t get the points,” he said.

That run of wins back in the summer was ended by a 1-1 draw at the Carlisle Grounds, the 17th stalemate between the sides in 75 league meetings. The Wicklow club is in a bit of a slump, finishing seventh last season, finishing 17 points outside the play-off spots, and they also find themselves out of the top five heading into the final weeks of the season.

They are also on a poor run of results, with just one win in their last nine league games and that coming against the hapless Kerry FC, but for all that, they are still in with a chance of the play-offs as they sit seventh in the table, four points behind fifth-placed Wexford.

“Bray won last week, they drifted for a while but they have put themselves right back in it so we know it is going to be one hell of a game and we have to be right for that,” Caulfield said.

He knows they will need to perform across the entire 90-plus minutes tonight, rather than the half-a-game effort put in last week, and he is urging his players to block out any outside noises of title talk that might be starting to seep into the squad.

Pictured: Galway United’s Ronan Manning is consoled by Stephen Walsh after picking up an injury against Cobh Ramblers a fortnight ago that is likely to keep him out of tonight’s trip to Bray. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.