Brandon Kavanagh relishing Brandywell return with St Pat's under the RTÉ spotlight

​It's the first of two televised games in quick succession involving Derry City with Monday night's trip to Shamrock Rovers to be shown live on Virgin Media Two and Kavanagh believes the presence of the television crew tonight offers a chance to showcase the Inchicore men's title credentials after an indifferent start.

"It will be a great game, especially with it being on telly and all, people will be able to tune in and have a look so I'm really looking forward to it.

"It's maybe a different tension around the stadium. You can kind of feel it when the cameras are there.

"We know, whether the cameras are there or not, it's a massive game for both clubs even so early in the season. We just want to stamp our authority and get ourselves going. We played really well over the last two games and if we continue to play like that we'll be fine over the course of the season. It's just about kicking into gear again."

After spending the past two seasons on Foyleside, 23 year-old attacking midfielder, Kavanagh is preparing for his first return to Derry since making the close season move to Richmond Park.

He 'loved every minute' of his time at the club where he made 73 appearances, scoring nine times and won the FAI Cup in 2022 before leaving 'on good terms'. However, given his limited gametime the Crumlin native insists he was ready for a new challenge closer to home. He's waiting on his first start for the club after two substitute appearances so far but he's confident he made the right move.

"I loved every minute of it. Two years is a long time and I loved it. The opportunity came to come home to family and stuff and it was a new challenge and something I was very excited to do was to join Pats but I loved every minute of my time up in Derry.”

"It just wasn't about coming home. It was about a new challenge. Of course it had a part to play but that new challenge and I thought it was the right time.

"Myself and Ruaidhri we got on great and still have a great relationship. There are a lot of big, talented players up there and it's a great group of lads. For me it was just a new challenge, getting more game time and stuff. The season has just started so we have a big game now on Friday and we'll see how we get on.

"There's no bad blood between myself and Ruaidhri or any of the players. I left on good terms. It was just my decision at the end of the day and I thought the new challenge was the way forward. I'm just really enjoying it and have settled in really well so we'll just see how we get on from here.

"You need to go into every game trying to win it. It's about doing what I do and concentrating on that. It's not about trying to prove anyone right or wrong. It's playing your own game. It's a team game but do your own job, work hard and your ability shows off the back of that."

Kavanagh and his namesake Cian who also made the close season move to Inchicore will be determined to prove their worth should they get the chance against their former club tonight.

The pair will have some inside knowledge on how Higgins goes about his business but Brandon reckons the Saints already know everything they need to know about Derry.

"The analysts at Pats are outstanding so they don't need anything from me. It's about focusing on our own jobs. We know it's tough going to away games and especially going to the Brandywell. It will be tough but it's live on telly and those are the kind of games you want to be involved in so I'm really looking forward to it."

He knows more than most about the quality in Derry's midfield department and he's certain they have the players to cope in the absence of injured trio Patrick McEleney, Sadou Diallo and Cameron Dummigan.

"Fats and Dummy are a big loss. They're two fantastic players but they have more than enough about them for those boys who come in and it doesn't make too much of a difference to the squad. We know that as a group. It doesn't really matter who they play, they have a lot of qualities.

"We know Derry are a brilliant side with a lot of brilliantly talented players. It's about being focussed and we just need to do our job and go out there on Friday and get a positive result - that's the plan."