Bohs playmaker Dawson Devoy expecting 'nothing to lose' mindset from Derry City

Ruaidhri Higgins takes his squad to the north Dublin venue having managed to secure an elusive first victory of the season last Saturday night in Sligo and Bohs’ teenage playmaker believes the result will have lifted a weight off their shoulders.

Both teams have struggled to get going after the opening seven games of 2021 but they meet on the back of encouraging performances last weekend.

“It’s a tough league to get results,” said Ashbourne native, Devoy.

“When you get one or two bad results it’s hard to get going again. Once you get a few wins on the trot it’s a lot more encouraging. No one is pressing panic buttons, not just yet.

“There’s still a long way to go in the season. It hasn’t started exactly how we would’ve liked.”

The Gypsies had managed two wins on the bounce against Dundalk and Waterford and appeared to have kick-started their season before being brought back down to earth with a 3-1 loss to Sligo Rovers.

Against champions Shamrock Rovers last weekend Keith Long’s troops produced an excellent display and had the chances to snatch a win before James Finnerty conceded a penalty and was shown a red card.

Despite the disappointment and frustrations from the Dublin Derby, Devoy insists no one is dwelling on the result as they look to put things right against the Candy Stripes.

“We were disappointed not to get anything from the Rovers game. We thought we played well and deserved something from it. We’ve come back to training and everyone is just looking forward to the Derry game now.

“On another day we would’ve got a draw or a win from the Rovers game. Had we had taken our chances or kept 11 men on the pitch we would’ve got something definitely.

We haven’t dwelled on it and since then we’ve kept our heads down in training and looked forward to Derry on Friday.

“Derry got a good result against Sligo on Saturday so it should be a good game.”

Last year was Devoy’s breakthrough year in Phibsborough after returning from a spell at Watford and he admitted the season was beyond his expectations as Bohs finished second and he got his first taste of European football.

While he admits he hasn’t played as much as he would want so far this season, he’s featured in five of the Dubliner’s seven games and is prepared to be patient with a long way to go in the current campaign.

“Last season I broke into the team and played a good few games. I haven’t played as much as I would like to this season but there’s a long way to go.

“We’ve got Europe to look forward to this season again and we’ll obviously be hoping to qualify for Europe again through the league.

“There’s a lot of competition for places. We had a bigger squad last year but this year we’ve got a smaller squad, but with more competition for places.

“All the new signings are flying. Stephen Mallon obviously got an injury in pre-season but he’s nearly back to full fitness.

“The new signings have been great and are pushing everyone on.”

Devoy is excited for tonight’s visit of the Candy Stripes and expects a tough encounter.

“They got a good result with the new manager at the weekend and they were very good at Sligo so they will be coming up to Dalymount with nothing to lose now. They’re playing good football as well and have been unlucky early on in the season not to get a few results go their way. As I said, they will come with nothing to lose.

“We will look into them more with the video analysis before the game but they were really well organised on Saturday and they’ll be hoping to follow that up with another good result on Friday.”

If it’s anything like the last meeting between the teams when Bohemians netted in the 94th and 95th minutes to turn the game on its head and clinch a 2-1 win it will certainly be an entertaining.

“If it’s something like that it probably won’t be as good for the players but for the people watching it’ll be great no doubt. I’m sure it will be a great game though.”