SSE Airtricity League
Saturday August 7 2021
The RSC, 2pm
Live on LOITV
While fans might be looking ahead to Thursday’s Europa Conference League qualifier return leg away to PAOK in Greece, Bohemians players have pushed that out of their thinking and are fully focused on getting a result in Waterford today.
Tyreke Wilson has enjoyed a healthy battle for the left-back berth this season with Anto Breslin -. the duo push each other all the way.
When it comes to the Europa Conference League games, Wilson got the nod for the first two games against Stjarnan, but Breslin has been the starter for the past three since.
Like everyone in this Bohemians squad, however, Wilson is a real team player.
He came on against PAOK on Thursday for the final few minutes and, after that whetting of the appetite, is hoping he will get another opportunity to display what he is capable of against his former club Waterford at the RSC today.
Wilson said: “It was a great feeling on Tuesday. We fully respected them but we had our own game-plan and we stuck to it.
“We said before the game that we had to focus on our own performance and we did that. We are going over there with something to play for but we are not getting carried away.”
That is about as much as Tyreke or any Bohs player wants to talk about Thursday’s game at this stage.
Having dropped points against Longford Town the last time a league game was sandwiched between a European tie, they do not want to leave anything to chance.
Wilson said: “Whatever team Keith puts out, we have players in every position who are determined to go out and get the right performance to get the right result.
“If Keith makes changes, it is up to everyone who is given an opportunity to seize it. It is not going to be an easy game. Waterford are a much-improved side from the team we played earlier in the season.
“They have won their last four games, so they are one of the form teams in the league at the moment.”
As well as wanting to deliver on the pitch, Wilson is delivering off it too.
He said: “Yeah! I started with An Post a few weeks ago as a postman and I am really enjoying it.
“I’ve clocked up some mileage over the last few weeks! It has given me a better routine too.
“With us training in the evening, you can fall into bad habits during the day so I am enjoying the discipline of having to get up early and having that routine. I think it’s good for me and I am enjoying it so far.”
Manager Keith Long echoed the need to focus fully on today’s game and to push out any distractions thinking ahead to Thursday.
Long said: “We said at the end of the game on Tuesday that our focus had to shift to Waterford.
“The boys came off the pitch on Tuesday full of adrenaline. They were pleased. But that is over now and we cannot dwell on that too much.
“That might sound boring when people are getting excited about European games, but we want more nights like we had on Tuesday. That doesn’t happen unless our league form is looked after.
“Waterford have made significant changes over the past month or so, and they have won their last four games, so we are in for a real game and we need to deliver a big performance.”
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