Bray Wanderers Match Preview
League of Ireland First Division
Athlone Town
Friday October 6, Athlone Town Stadium
Kick-off 7.45pm
With the play-offs for the 2023 season now virtually gone, Bray Wanderers Head Coach Ian Ryan has again backed up his call for the Seagulls to finish the season on a high.
The Green and White’s head to the Athlone Town Stadium on Friday knowing victory against Athlone will keep their First Division campaign alive.
Seven points currently separate the two clubs in the race for fifth pace.
The Wicklow side need to win all three of their remaining fixtures. And hope that Athlone fail to pick up more than a point in their other two games (both clubs playing Longford Town and Finn Harps) to finish in fifth position.
“As I’ve said previously, the play-offs have come away from us. So, it’s about going out and playing for the pride that we have,” said Ryan.
“We had a good – and deserved win – last week against Cobh. Hopefully, we can keep that level of performance going.”
He continued “The was a real energy – a real purpose to us – against Cobh, particularly in the first half. The players had a bit of freedom with the circumstances. We want to finish the season as strong as we can against an Athlone side who probably have the play-offs secured.”
Ryan went on to add “For us, it about picking up as many points over the last three games. We started that off last week with the win and the performance. We’ll look to see if we can win two in a row now.”
TEAM NEWS
With top scorer Ben Feeney (ankle) again ruled out, both defender Seán Quinn (hamstring) and striker Jake Walker (groin) are struggling to be match fit.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS IN 2023
Back in April, Bray won 1-0 at the Carlisle Grounds with Cole Omorehiomwan on the mark.
At the Athlone Town Stadium last June, the Midlanders won 3-1 with Chris Lyons scoring for Wanderers.
Lyons netted twice in the next meeting at the Carlisle Grounds back in August which ended in a 2-2 draw.