“They have a nice balance of experience and some talented young players coming through and will have ambitions on building on last season.

“It will be another tough game – our games against Sligo are always difficult and generally very close affairs.”

In fact the same can be said of Bohs’ opening five fixtures of this campaign – a draw and four 1-0 results.

Bohs came out on the right side the two most recent of those – away to Dundalk and then away Waterford – but lost out to Finn Harps in Ballybofey on the opening night of the season and again to St Pat’s in our last outing at Dalymount.
Long said: “After our defeat against St Pat’s in our last home game, I referred to the fine margins we have experienced so far this season.

“The same could have been said for our win in Dundalk where we came out on the right side of the result – a result which could have very easily gone the other way. The point is that we have not been a million miles off, despite not playing at our best.

“Against Waterford, we didn’t play anywhere near how we did in Dundalk but still kept a clean sheet and a win. Our performance was a bit flat, we didn’t create enough and our use of the ball was slow. Overall it was quite the contrast to the performance in Oriel Park.

“Our performance levels have to improve on Waterford but we hope the injection of confidence provided by back-to-back wins will lead to better performances and, by extension, improved results.

“We will improve as the season goes on and we will get more consistency in our performances. The attitude of the players has been excellent and we are all working very hard to get better.”

TEAM NEWS

Bohs are likely to be without Andy Lyons (hamstring) and Bastien Héry (ankle) once more.

Stephen Mallon (metatarsal) remains out also but there was some good news as he returned to training last week, while Promise Omochere (knee) and Conor Levingston (calf) were named on the bench against Waterford for the first time this season.

Long added: “It is pleasing to see some of the long term injuries return to training. Conor played 60 minutes in a recent behind-closed-doors friendly against St Pat’s and Promise Omochere is back training now on a full-time basis, which means he is closer to returning to playing competitive games.

“Stephen picked up an unfortunate metatarsal injury in pre-season but is back to light training now. He is a number of weeks away from playing but is making great progress and working extremely hard. He is doing everything right in order to get back playing and to make an impact at the club.”

The Blues also carried a threat from set pieces, but Gypsies fans will be pleased to see the new look backline holding firm for their second clean sheet in a row.

Going forward, there was a bit more zip about the play as the side looked to play quicker and create more as a result. The creative Keith Ward stung the palms of Paul Martin early on and looked to come in off the left hand side to get involved throughout.

The deadlock was broken, and deservedly so, just before the break as the Bohs pressure finally told.

Many first goal-scorer bets were ripped up when unlikely hero Cornwall was on hand to tap home, despite Martin’s excellent save from a thunderbolt of a free-kick from Tyreke Wilson against his old club.

The Gypsies started the second half on the back foot and really could have found themselves level.

The visitors were thankful that Blues skipper Kyle Ferguson’s free header in the box was straight at the relieved Talbot, following a couple of high balls into the area.

This warning shot seemed to wake Keith Long’s troops up and they in turn showed some encouraging creativity in the final third.

A lovely quick passing move including Ward and Liam Burt resulted in a low cross from the winger just inches away from the toe of Georgie Kelly just before the hour mark.

Things were freshened up just minutes later with the introduction of Jack Moylan and Dawson Devoy for Ross Tierney and the aforementioned Ward.

Moylan took up the right hand side berth and the pacey Burt switched over to the left wing, and was beginning to show glimpses of what he is capable of with his direct running and skill to beat his man.

It was this exact avenue that should have resulted in Bohs doubling their lead, with man of the match Burt flying down the left, leaving defenders in his wake, then cutting back cleverly to the penalty spot but Moylan could only side-foot his effort straight at the keeper.

There was a little worry creeping in now that, despite their dominance and continued threat, that the lead was just 1-0 going into the final 10 minutes, and a late corner for the hosts did nothing to ease the nerves.

A poor delivery, followed by a lightning quick break, however, saw Devoy clean through on goal.

But the talented youngster was just unable to get the ball fully under control and snatched at his shot slightly, hitting it straight at Martin, who to his credit performed excellently on the night following the surprise omission of former Bohs keeper Brian Murphy.

Although unable to match the performance or tempo of the previous week at Oriel Park, and frustrated that they failed to make their numerical advantage pay when Waterford played the last 25 minutes a man down due to Tshipamba’s injury, there were certainly positive signs of this Bohemians side continuing to gel.

Now, after two away games on the trot, Bohs will look to build on back-to-back victories when they return to the Home of Irish Football on Tuesday night as Sligo Rovers make the trip to Dalymount Park.

Waterford: Paul Martin, Darragh Power, Jamie Mascoll, Kyle Ferguson (c), Cameron Evans, James Waite (Jack Stafford 56), Isaac Tshipamba, Tunmise Sobowale, Adam O’Reilly (Katlego Mashigo 61), John Martin, Daryl Murphy (Prince Mutswunguma 36). Unused substitutes: Niall O’Keeffe, Eric Molloy, Shane Griffin, Matthew Connor, Josh Collins.

Bohemians: James Talbot, Rory Feely, Rob Cornwall, James Finerty, Tyreke Wilson, Keith Ward (Dawson Devoy 63), Ross Tierney (Jack Moylan 63), Keith Buckley (c) , Ali Coote, Liam Burt, Georgie Kelly. Unused substitutes: Stephen McGuinness, Anto Breslin, Ciarán Kelly, Conor Levingston, Promise Omochere, Bradley Rolt, Thomas Oluwa.

Referee: Adriano Reale.

But Scottish midfielder Coote, 22, says he will have little inside knowledge facing his former club, such has been the high turnover of personnel there under new manager and former Ireland international Kevin Sheedy, including the addition of former Bohs man Oscar Brennan as club captain.

He admitted: “I have no idea what to expect from Waterford! There has been a huge turnover of players. There are only a few left from when I was there last season.

“I enjoyed my time there, we did well last season. The RSC is a good place to play football with a good pitch. We are just looking forward to going down there and hopefully building on our performance last week against Dundalk.”

That performance in Oriel Park saw Bohs claim their first win of the season after a tricky opening to the season, which saw them pick up just one point from their first three games.

It was a hugely improved performance and deserved victory. Bohs created plenty of chances, but it was Georgie Kelly’s first-half penalty that was the difference between the sides.

Coote said: “We just clicked on the night – everyone was at it. We deserved the result. We knew going up there that they were a good side. They have been one of the best sides in the country for a number of years.

“But the gaffer told us to put in a performance we could be proud of and I definitely think we did that. If anything I thought we could have gone and scored more.

“We passed it about more, and that suits me personally as I get to show my qualities. The challenge now is to build on that performance and to try to get a run going.”

That victory marked 21-year-old Wilson’s debut in a Bohs shirt as he was chosen ahead of Anto Breslin, who had started the three previous games.

Breslin was an ever-reliable last season, so left-back is one of a number of positions where there will be healthy competition.

Wilson, who was on the books of Manchester City before joining Waterford, said: “I’ve had to be patient. The gaffer has been good to me though.

“There have been a lot of new players so it was always going to take a little while to get used to each other but we showed what we are capable of against Dundalk.

“It’s all about building momentum. We can take a lot of confidence as a team and hopefully we can go on a run.

“We are training well together too so hopefully we can bring that into the next few games.”

Wilson had Bohs fans cursing him when he stepped up and fired home a stunning free-kick that sealed that victory for the Blues back in September.

If a similar opportunity arises this evening, will he be putting his hand up again?

“Yeah, definitely! I fancy myself with free-kicks – I always practice myself after training. It’s something I have in my locker so if the opportunity presents itself yeah I’ll definitely be trying to take it and to score,” he added.

TEAM NEWS

Stephen Mallon (metatarsal) remains out.

Andy Lyons, who came off with a hamstring injury against Dundalk, and Bastien Héry (ankle) will not be risked.

But Promise Omochere (knee) and Conor Levingston (calf) come back into contention.

Long explained: “Andy came off with a tight hamstring last week so we won’t risk him for this game, especially as we have two games next week.

“Unfortunately Bastien went over on his ankle late in a training game so he is unavailable for us this evening.

“The good news is we have Levo and Promise back. Promise is looking really sharp and both of those will be with the squad this evening.”