Bray Wanderers boss Gary Cronin - We have to go and win

Andrew Dempsey reports from the Carlisle Grounds

Bray Wanderers boss Gary Cronin insists that his side still believe that they can clinch the First Division title on Tuesday evening.

The Seagulls fell to a late injury-time defeat at home to Galway United on Saturday afternoon – and their loss at home to the Tribesmen now means that their title fate is out of their own hands.

Bray must now hope that they can capitalise on a potential slip-up by Drogheda United away to Cabinteely when they take on Athlone Town at the same time.

“The bottom line is that we have to win our game and take our chances,” the Bray boss told extratime.com after Saturday’s defeat.

“It doesn’t change a whole lot,” he added. “If we won against Galway we would have still had to win on Tuesday.

“We have to go to Athlone and win now, but that might not be enough. We’re just relying on one or two things to go our way on Tuesday evening.

“But we still believe and it’s still alive. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we can do it.

“We’ve seen may league titles won on the final day and even in the last couple of minutes of games. That could be the case on Tuesday night as well.”

For Cronin – he must now pick up his players ahead of Tuesday’s season finale – and replicate something that he achieved as a player.

As a player – with none other than Drogheda - Cronin won promotion to the top-flight away to Sligo Rovers on the final day of the 2001/02 season.

And he is hoping that his players can replicate that feat he achieved as a player – by winning the league title on the final day – but he is wary that it will be a different occasion to their usual league games.

“It’s easy for coaches, players and people from the outside to say that we’ve got to take it as a normal game, but the reality is that it is a different one,” Cronin admitted.

“I’ve been there as a player and there’s different feelings inside you. It takes a certain kind of performance and character to come through that.

“We know that we have to go and win. Our players know that we have to win now to have any chance of winning.

“That pressure and type of nerves to win a must-win game are on Drogheda now, it’s not on us and it’s up to them what way they handle that.

“If they do, they win the league, if they don’t, we’ll hopefully be there to take it from them.”