Walter wants momentum to be maintained
Winger Walter Figueira says that Rovers have to build on Dundalk result by performing against Longford
WHILE a well-earned rest is always welcome, players keen to get their names on the scoresheet were not so enthused about last Saturday’s scheduled home game with Waterford FC not going ahead.
The visitors, the bulk of whose first team squad had to quarantine due to a player testing positive for Covid-19, would have had to travel to Sligo with an understrength matchday panel. Going with U-19 players wasn’t an option for Waterford, who were thrashed 7-0 when they played Drogheda United with a teenage side. The FAI Disciplinary Committee has yet to confirm the outcome of the forfeiture but it is expected that Rovers will be handed a walkover win (denoted as 3-0 in the season’s records).
Rovers winger Walter Figueira, who has become an integral part of a team that has risen to third place in the table, would rather have played last weekend. “Hopefully not having a game doesn’t slow down our momentum,” he said.
“There’s nothing we could really do about it other than to stay professional with our work and training and look after ourselves for the next game.” It was a chance, as he points out, to build on a big 1-0 win in Dundalk a week earlier.
The performance that yielded the result at Oriel Park – one achieved with 10 players due to a second-half red card for Garry Buckley – epitomises what this group of players is about for the forward, who said he is not surprised they currently find themselves among the top three in the Premier Division.
“Looking at other teams around the league before the season started, I felt we had a strong chance of being where we are right now.”
“We have been unlucky with some games where we could have taken three points which would have us top. Those were disappointing results but they aren’t going to stop us challenging right to the very end of the season.”
Figueira has one goal to his name, but not having more is not for the want of trying. The woodwork has also intervened – only the crossbar denied him a Goal of the Season contender against Dundalk.
Rovers have often lacked a player who is a persistent threat from long-range and it is an attribute the Londoner wants to utilise to its full potential. “[Manager] Liam Buckley encourages it and I like to offer something a bit different. I don’t want to score the perfect goal, I just want to take a chance when I see it.”
“When you can shoot as well as pick a pass from that area of the pitch, it just asks a lot more questions of defenders and I hope I can keep turning those into goals.”
Figueira, 26, is one of the few players in the squad that boasts experience in European competitions.
Despite this, he sees plenty of qualities in the side that could set them up for a positive run in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League. “Our form in the league could lend itself to playing in Europe where you have to be quite compact.
“Most of the goals we have conceded have come from our mistakes which means these are things we can fix, we aren’t getting broken down a lot by teams.”
“As long as we nip these things in the bud and everyone stays focused, we can go on a good run,” the attacker added.