MATCH PREVIEW: Waterford FC vs Shamrock Rovers FC

Buoyed from last Friday’s win over Sligo Rovers, the Blues head into tomorrow’s game against Shamrock Rovers full of confidence, and we have all the details you need to know ahead of kick-off.

Waterford FC vs Shamrock Rovers FC

SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division

Friday 19th June 2026

RSC, Waterford

7:45pm

WATERFORD FC

Graham Coughlan’s Blues welcome the reigning League of Ireland champions to the RSC on Friday night as Waterford look to continue their recent surge in form with a result against the Hoops.

A Pádraig Amond hat-trick, added to with a stunning acrobatic effort from substitute Jorgen Voilas, last Friday secured the blues their second home win on the bounce, as they go in search of extending that run of form.

The Blues remain in 10th position in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division table, with the gap to Sligo Rovers in ninth position now cut down to just five points.

SHAMROCK ROVERS FC

Stephen Bradley’s side make the journey down to the RSC on Friday looking to return to winning ways after suffering a 2-1 loss away to Shelbourne at Tolka Park last Friday night.

The Hoops will be without the services of captain Roberto Lopes, as the Hoops skipper helped Cape Verde to a historic 0-0 draw against Spain in their opening group game of their FIFA World Cup campaign earlier this week.

Shamrock Rovers sit at the top of the league table going into Friday evening’s game, with 40 points to their name from their opening 21 league games.

WATERFORD FC TEAM NEWS

Evan McLoughlin (Foot) & Finlay Armstrong (Quad) remain absent for Friday night’s clash against Shamrock Rovers. Cian Barrett is unavailable for selection due to his loan agreement with his parent club Shamrock Rovers.

Goforth Amedu is available for selection, having spent the last week training with his new teammates.

GRAHAM COUGHLAN’S THOUGHTS

“Games like last week the euphoria can soon disappear, but it’s up to our lads now to go try and maintain that and build on it, and try carry it on. The squad is in a good place at this moment in time. That momentum can be built upon, or it can go the other way. So it’s up to us to try and keep our feet on the ground, keep them level headed, and make sure they keep the confidence they’ve built up.

We’ve got the massive hurdle of the champions coming to the RSC tomorrow night, probably the best team in Ireland over the last number of years. It’s a brilliant challenge for the group, and it’s one that the lads will be looking forward to”.

PÁDRAIG AMOND’S THOUGHTS

“It was a really good performance last Friday, especially in the second half. I thought that once Sligo went down to ten men, we managed the game really well and it was a really pleasing result for us. Probably the most pleasing aspect of it was the clean sheet.

It was a big win for us, coming off the back of the break & what happened to us in Drogheda before the break. It sets a marker for us for the rest of the year. We have to make sure we put in performances like that now each week and start picking up wins no matter how we do it.

I’m looking forward to the game tomorrow night now against Shamrock Rovers. It will be a tough game against the Champions, but we’ll go into the game believing in ourselves that we can cause trouble throughout the ninety minutes. We’ve recovered well from last Friday night, and the whole group has worked hard all week on the training ground, so now we’ll do everything we can to go get a result at the RSC.”