Derry City boss Ruaidhri Higgins expects hostile reception from wounded Bohemians

​The City boss expects a 'talented' Bohs team to show resilience in the face of adversity and with first team coach Derek Pender and U19 coach Trevor Croly in the opposition dugouts, Higgins believes the Gypsies will be desperate to bounce back quickly.

"I absolutely see it everywhere, right throughout the world when there's a change in the dugout it seems to create a response from a group of players that it's happened to so we'll have to be ready for that," said Higgins.

"But to be fair, when you analyse both matches [against Shelbourne and Drogheda] and you look back, it wasn't like they had downed tools, the players were giving absolutely everything for him [Devine] and I mean that.

"We spoke about it as staff, it's not like you're getting a group of players who are suddenly going to start being fully committed because they were, they were running hard, they were working hard, they just weren't getting a rub of the green.

"They lost last week to Shelbourne and I know the scoreline was 2-0 but there was nothing in the game, absolutely nothing in the game.

"So Bohs are a good side, a lot of good players and a deep squad actually so we'll have to be ready."

Derry must concentrate on their own house and after a productive week where they earned seven points from games against St Pat's, Shamrock Rovers and Waterford, Higgins is hoping the Candy Stripes can go into the international break with their unbeaten start intact.

"It would be nice to be honest. There's a couple of weeks without a game after Friday and it would be nice to finish on a high and pick up another three points.

"That's easier said than done, we're going down to a difficult opponent and a tough venue so we'll have to be ready for the challenge."

Should his team garner 14 points from a possible 18 before the two week break, Higgins believes it would give them a fantastic platform with the promise of some of their injured players returning in the coming weeks.

"We've had periods in games where we've been really good, periods of games were not so good but we've managed to pick up results and you find that it normally takes a series of games to get going.

"If we can manage to pick up good points while we're trying to get a rhythm and our mojo then we'll be happy. It'll be a good platform and a few bodies to come back hopefully. That's the plan, let's see what we can produce now on Friday."

Derry boast a decent record in Dalymount having won three out of their last four visits to the venue but Higgins isn't taking anything for granted.

"As long as I can remember we have a good record. That doesn't mean to say it won't change on Friday, we have to go down there and give absolutely everything because I would imagine it would be a hostile atmosphere. It's a really good ground to play your football on but if you're not prepared right and if you don't approach the game properly you're going to end up with egg in your face."

City skipper Patrick McEleney is expected to be available once again after his recovery from a recent thigh strain while Adam O’Reilly and Mark Connolly who both sustained injuries against Waterford last week will be involved.

Michael Duffy remains a doubt while Will Patching, Cameron Dummigan, Ciaron Harkin and Colm Whelan remain sidelined.