Michael Duffy return can have catalytic effect on Derry City's fortunes

Duffy was delighted to get back on the pitch at Oriel Park on Sunday and hopes he's now put his injury worries firmly in the past.​

The winger hasn't been able to enjoy an extended injury free run since making his return to Foyleside for the start of the 2022 season.

An injury delayed his second debut for his hometown club and when he did get back on the pitch against Drogheda at Brandywell in March last year, he sustained a fractured tibia which kept him out until Derry's Europa League Conference tie against Riga when he made his comeback the following July.

Determined to make up for lost time, Duffy started the 2023 pre-season campaign on top form and scored in the 2-0 win over Shamrock Rovers in the President's Cup Final at Brandywell.

For a player who has managed to steer clear of injuries for much of his career, misfortunate struck once more when he pulled up in the warm-up ahead of the first league match of the season against St Pat's at Richmond Park.

Little did he know it was a calf injury which would keep him out for the opening nine weeks of the season.

It's been difficult to come to terms with being injured after such a promising pre-season but having returned as a late substitute in the 2-2 draw at his former stomping ground on Sunday, Duffy is determined to stay fit and help add some much needed firepower to Derry's attack.

Not used to being injured, his extended lay-off was particularly hard to take and so the arrival of his second child in late February came at the perfect time.

"It's been a frustrating start to the year for myself but it was great to get back on the pitch and hopefully I'm past that now and I can get a run of games under my belt," said Duffy who came so close to netting a 90th minute winner when flashing a 25 yard strike narrowly wide of the post.

“It's going great,” smiled the father of two. “That sort of came at a good time for me. This injury was a tough one to take because of last year.

"I was looking forward to the start of the season so much. As soon as I got injured I said to Emily ‘hurry up’ and get the wain out to cheer me up a bit but the wee man is great and everything is brilliant.”

Did he have an eye on the Dundalk game as the ideal match to return?

"Not really because I had a wee setback maybe about three weeks ago whenever I had my eye on a certain game and the calf is a weird one," he explained. "Your body more or less tells you when you're ready. It was disappointing because I had a game in my head so this time I was just waiting until Mickey (Hegarty) gave me the go ahead and I was just getting through training and passing stages. Thankfully I'm at this stage now."

His return from injury last summer coincided with an impressive run of form for Ruaidhri Higgins' side and the City boss is hoping his inclusion in the squad for last Sunday's trip to Dundalk now has a similar catalytic effect with Derry hoping to arrest a concerning three match winless run.

"It's brilliant to see Mickey back, he looked sharp," said Higgins. "He caused them a few issues. He's a smashing player and we're delighted to see him back in the team.

"The players get a lift even when he's in training. It's incredible because Michael, until he came to Derry he never really had an injury in his career and he's missed a lot of football. Hopefully we can keep him fit and healthy and we know if we do we have one of, if not the best player in the country."

Duffy wasn't the only one to make a welcome appearance in the squad list on Sunday as striker Colm Whelan was an unused sub bolstering a strong looking substitute's bench.

And the Galliagh man insists the return of some of Derry's walking wounded has given the whole squad a lift, real belief and a positive mindset ahead of the trip to Cork City next Friday.

"It does, big time," he agreed. "It's been frustrating for us in general with a lot of injuries so it's good now to see a lot of the boys coming back and the bench and the squad getting stronger.

"Our squad is in a good position now which is good for training and for the morale, everyone getting back together so we’ll push on for Cork.

"That's going to help us and drive us on in the next few weeks. We go to Cork now in a positive mind-frame. We're happy we got the point in the end. We didn't want to lose three games in a row.

"It was a very disappointing Friday, Monday for us but I thought we were very good today overall but we'll take a point down here, it's a tough place to come and always has been. So it's a positive result and we just need to roll on now to Friday.”