Bohemians defender Rob Cornwall says the late Ryan McBride influenced his game

The 25 year-old Dubliner spent six months on Foyleside in 2015 under Peter Hutton and played in a talented back four alongside McBride, Aaron Barry and Dean Jarvis.

Cornwall, who still has the former City skipper in his cover photograph on Twitter, had the perfect football education and ‘felt safe’ playing beside both McBride and Barry, claiming he has learned to ‘imitate’ the pair.

“I loved it up in Derry,” said the experienced Bohs centre-half. “I was out in the car recently with ‘Bucko’ (Keith Buckley) and we were talking about McBride and that team we had at Derry.

“We were quite low down in the table but we had Ryan McBride, Aaron Barry and ‘Jarvy’ at left back and that was a serious back four.

“Barry and McBride were two men that you don’t see too often. I remember one of my first games and Ryan McBride absolutely nailed me. I said to ‘Azza’ (Aaron Barry) after the game;

‘What was the story with McBride? That was my header’. And he said ‘Anything that goes up in the air, just leave it to McBride.’

“I was like; ‘happy days, fair enough. That’s the type of centre half I want to play with.’

“I try to imitate how McBride and Aaron Barry played at centre half. They were two men and you knew what you were going to get when walking out on the pitch beside them. You felt safe just because of the size of them as well.”

After six months at Derry, Cornwall returned to his parent club, Shamrock Rovers before making the cross-city switch to Bohemians in 2016 where he’s established himself as a top League of Ireland defender at a club on the rise.

It’s a side brimming with young talent, evidenced by the recent emergence of play-maker, Dawson Devoy, who produced a magnificent display and impressive assist in the 1-0 win over Sligo Rovers last weekend.

Cornwall believes the depth of talent at Dalymount Park has taken everyone up a level as they fight to keep hold of their shirt.

“It says something if you’re keeping ‘Wardy’ (Keith Ward) and Danny Mandroiu out but Dawson has been flying. He’s a quiet man but he’s coming into the group now and you should see him in training, some of the stuff he does, I’m surprised he’s still here.

“He’s getting his chance now and he’s taken it against Sligo. Those are the things he does every week with us so hopefully he can keep his spot and keep going now.

“Wardy keeps saying to the gaffer to get him out of the club so he can get a game,” joked Cornwall, “He just wants to sell him on.”

Cornwall himself faces stiff competition for his place with James Finnerty, Andy Lyons, Ciaran Clarke and Michael Barker all competing for the centre half positions but it’s a pressure he believes keeps him on his toes.

“We have it everywhere which is great. Even behind Andy Lyons, you have Michael Barker who has played in the league for years. Ciaran Kelly and Finnerty haven’t really got too much this year and they’re two top centre halves who could be playing anywhere in the league.

“It goes all around the team. There’s some depth this year, Even Promise (Omochere), another lad who came up from the U19s - he’s running amok in training.

“There’s no complacency, everyone is fighting to keep our spots. That’s what’s driving us on - how intense training is and everybody is pushing everyone else on.”

Cornwall is reluctant to talk about chasing Rovers for the title as the Gypsies sit second, eight points behind the Hoops with six games to go.

Every game in the league is a ‘battle’ and he expects nothing less when Derry City come to Dalymount tonight.

“We were always trying to focus on ourselves from the start. It was everyone around us hyping us up about the league. We’ve kind of stayed to ourselves and we’re trying to get that 1% better as a team. Collectively, as a club, it seems like we’re on the rise. To be honest we’re not focusing on anything else other than how we perform every week.

“We’re quite young and we will have little slip-ups now and again. So we’re just trying to build every week.”

Having tasted European competition this year, Cornwall and his teammates are hungry for more and he expects a fight to the end for those European spots.

“There will be a serious chase for Europe. There’s no easy game and every game we’re grinding out. Sligo are quite similar to us and Derry are probably the closest team to us in terms of how we play and how the dressing room is.

“So there’s no easy game coming anytime soon and it will be a big chase for European places for everybody.

“It’s certainly never an easy game playing Derry. I’d like to see the statistics for the last couple of years. It’s going to be a tight game, a battle.

“Derry are very similar to us. They’re intense, they graft. It might not be the prettiest game but hopefully we get something out of it.

“They’ve brought in four or five new lads since the last time we played but it will be a tough one. The weather has been pretty awful down here as well so I’m not sure how well Dalymount can take that. I’m not sure it will be a pretty affair.

“Derry need to be up there, they’re a top team in the league and will be fighting to get into Europe as well. So we all have our own internal pressures to drive us on.”