Ruaidhri Higgins expects Michael Duffy to have big impact on Derry City season

The Galliagh man underwent minor surgery yesterday on his fractured tibia, sustained after a robust challenge from Drogheda United’s Keith Cowan on Monday night.

The injury, which occurred less than 10 minutes after Duffy made his long awaited return to Brandywell as a Derry player, put a dampener on the excellent 2-0 victory which extended the Candy Stripes’ unbeaten start to the season.

Higgins’ worst fears were allayed after initial scans revealed a ‘clean break’ and he’s put an optimistic timeline on Duffy’s rehabilitation, expecting the player to return to play ‘a good chunk of the season’ should his recovery go to plan.

The City boss was reluctant to predict a potential return date for the player but suggested the timeframe would certainly not be as long as six months and claimed the prognosis was ‘the best case scenario’.

“Absolutely not! He’ll get a good chunk of the season as long as recovery and everything goes to plan,” confirmed Higgins.

“It’s probably the best case scenario in relation to his injury. He’s due to get operated on today (Thursday) which is good. It’s been quick and it seems to be a clean break needing only minor surgery.

“I don’t want to put a timeframe on it because I don’t want to put him under any sort of pressure but it’s probably the best of a bad situation.”

Higgins, who had wrapped Duffy in cotton wool as he nursed a hamstring injury before introducing him as a 61st minute substitute on Monday, believes the player’s injury history and fitness will stand him in good stead when it comes to his recovery.

“I remember being at Dundalk as assistant and first team coach and he never missed a game so it’s new for him. He’s never really experienced this.

“I think it comes to everybody at some stage of their career.

“When lads get older I think they play football as a job. There’s a lot of players I know who lose that enjoyment but Mickey just loves playing the game. He’s first on the pitch always kicking balls and I actually have to get on to him to stop. He’s first on the pitch and last off it. He’s obsessed with football, loves it, so this will hurt for him but he’ll definitel y have a big impact on the season for us.

“I do believe he has, for a number of years, been the most productive player in the league in terms of volume of games, goals, assists, goal involvements. He’s right up there.

“I think he’s unrivalled actually in terms of having big impacts on games.

“He’s class. I know we haven’t had the joy of seeing him play yet but we’ll get there and he’ll be a huge, huge player for this club.”