Cameron McJannet wary of Sligo Rovers' dangerous front three as Derry City hit the road

​The red and white army has sold out the away allocation for Derry's first road trip of the campaign and McJannet believes they can help make a difference in what's expected to be a tightly contested battle on the banks of the Garavogue.

"It's brilliant that little away end in Sligo," said the City defender. "I like it because when you're on that side and even when you're further away from it you can really hear the fans. So they will help us a lot on Saturday night.

"We need any help we can get and the fans can give us that extra push. We know what it will be like with the weather and the pitch so it might not be pretty at times. So if the fans stay on our side hopefully we can make the trip worthwhile."

Derry's last visit to Sligo was 'a low point' in the season as the 1-0 loss ultimately signalled the end of their title challenge with five games remaining but McJannet wants to banish those memories with a win.

"That was a low point. We've got to get that feeling out of our heads on Saturday because we want to go down there, get a result and have a good feeling afterwards.

"I try to forget about those games to be honest but I suppose you have to look back and learn from them. We probably just weren't fully at it and when you're not at it you have to do the less pretty stuff better. That might've been it. We've learned that when we're not at our best we have to be even better at the ugly, simple stuff. That's what I'll take from it anyway."

McJannet knows he will have to be on top of his game as he comes up against a dangerous front three of Simon Power, Max Mata and Fabrice Hartmann who got off the mark with a skillful run and finish in the 2-2 draw at Bohemians last week.

Sligo scored five goals in a 5-4 preseason win over the Candy Stripes as new loan signing from Cheltenham, Ellis Chapman impressed in midfield and while McJannet expects a busy night against top opposition, he isn't expecting a repeat of that uncharacteristic defensive display.

"I hope not," he laughed. "It was pre-season so maybe there were a few cobwebs there. Second half we showed some good attacking play to score three or four goals but it was a shame they scored that goal at the end to make it 5-4.

"They have quality attacking players but we've done our homework. We know how good Hartmann is. We know how quick and powerful Power is and we've seen before how good Mata has been and I would guess he would be eager to come back and prove a point and score some goals in his first game back in Sligo. So we will have to try our best to stop him and the other two from scoring on the night."

Ruaidhrí Higgins' troops go into the game in confident mood and with three points already in the bag after a 2-1 win over Drogheda and with a double header against St Pat's and Shamrock Rovers on the horizon, McJannet knows how important it is to gather some momentum even at this early stage of the campaign.

Shamrock Rovers winless start after two games has added an extra bit of importance to the game for Derry who will hope to take advantage of any slip-ups when they can.

That occasion when they failed to take advantage of Rovers’ draw with UCD when failing to win in Sligo the following day last October will no doubt be fresh in their minds ahead of this one.

"The mood has been good in training this week but I think we're staying level-headed more than anything and just concentrating on Sligo because we know how tough it is going down there. So we have to take last Friday's win and try to gain some momentum."