Ruaidhri Higgins feline fine ahead of St Pat's visit despite Derry City's injury jinx

​The Candy Stripes' injury jinx struck again on Saturday night at the Sligo Showgrounds as skipper Patrick McEleney (thigh) and Cameron Dummigan (ankle) joined fellow midfielder Sadou Diallo (knee) in the Brandywell treatment room.

'It's the harsh reality of football," explained the Brandywell boss who was in jovial mood at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday afternoon as he tackled questions on the latest spate of injuries ahead of the crunch double header against St Patrick's Athletic and Shamrock Rovers.

Providing an update on both players, Higgins revealed McEleney's injury isn't as bad as first feared while Dummigan's will need to be assessed further before the club is prepared to make any definitive statements about how long the Lurgan native will be sidelined for.

The experienced pair are a significant loss ahead of two huge games in quick succession against two of the league’s heavyweights but Higgins doesn't believe in negative omens and he's confident he has enough midfield options to have most managers purring.

"Aye, for the last two years I kept running over black cats," he laughed. "Of course you question everything but you have a match to try and win and you have to make decisions and that's what I'm paid to do," he added when asked about the thoughts going through his head when he lost both Dummigan and McEleney in the first half at the Showgrounds.

"My job is to try and remain calm and make decisions. We're bringing Jordan McEneff and Adam O'Reilly into the game so we're talking about two exceptional young players. I can't complain too much to be honest."

So what's the prognosis on the injury situation?

"We got some decent news regarding Patrick," he began. It's not anywhere near as bad as first feared which is great. Dummigan's is a little bit more complex so we're waiting on more details on that. Obviously Diallo is missing as well.

"To be honest it's the best preseason Patrick has had in a long, long time which is why it's even harder to swallow. Listen we've got decent news and we'd be hopeful he will be back in the not too distant future.

"The thing with Patrick is, you know when you get him fit and well, he's as good as anyone in the country. That's why we'll keep pushing him and he'll keep pushing himself because we know what an unbelievable footballer he is.

"Of course you want all your best players available all the time but that's the harsh reality of football, it very rarely happens. We're not the only club so we have to deal with it. We've built a good squad here that we're happy with and we're more than happy with the team that will be taking to the pitch on Friday."

Central midfield was an area Derry were well equipped in terms of quality and numbers going into the 2024 campaign but it has been decimated with the loss of three men who would be expected to start most matches. Higgins won't use it as an excuse, however, and has full faith in his squad.

"It's not ideal. In most other departments of the team we have good numbers. Obviously that position is limited in terms of numbers at the minute but we've built a really good squad here and we have players who are adaptable as well. We have no excuse. We just have to try and get points on the board over the Friday and Monday.

"That was always the plan if we picked up an injury here and there that we had the right squad in place. You don't envisage losing three top players in the same positions that's for sure but that's the way it is at the minute and we can't complain about it.

"We have players who are adaptable and hopefully we can get the lads back in the not too distant future and we can kick on. But these things happen in football and we have to remain positive. I know we have a team taking the pitch on Friday night that's more than capable of winning the game."