'All Premier Division clubs will fancy their chances of winning the FAI Cup' - insists Derry City boss Declan Devine

The Brandywell men face Drogheda United in the second round and Devine wants his players to be ready to mount a cup challenge.

“Look, I have publicly stated that I would like to win a trophy this year and I would like to win the cup,” he insisted.

“The FAI Cup is the only cup up for grabs so we’d like to win it, but we have to continue to get better in order to do that.

“There’s a lot of good teams looking to win it as well and there’s a lot of teams who are looking at it the same way as we are as it’s a chance of winning silverware. I’m sure Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and every club in the Premier Division will be looking and fancying their chances, so we are no different to that.”

The Drogs, currently sit in second spot, three points behind leaders Cabinteely, have picked up four points since the restart of the 2020 season.

The Candy Stripes were taken to a replay when the sides last met in the competition in 2016.

In their first clash at the Brandywell, Aaron McEneff’s penalty saved Derry’s blushes, cancelling out Sam O’Connor’s goal. However goals from Rory Patterson and Josh Daniels gave the visitors a narrow 2-1 win at United Park and Devine is expecting another hard test.

“It will be a tough game and it’s a tough draw for us but we are one step away from a quarter-final, so they are always going to be tough,” he added.

”Yes, we would have preferred a home game especially with us coming back from Lithuania but to win something you have to earn it and for us to get through to the next round of the cup, we are going to have to produce a big performance in Drogheda.

“There’s a lot of football to be played before Drogheda and, yes, I think we could have got an easier draw, but as a group of players we’ll look forward to it and we certainly want to give a good account of ourselves in the FAI Cup.”

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