Danny Lafferty says Derry City players have 'laser focus' on bringing success to Foyleside

DANNY Lafferty says Derry City players have a ‘laser focus’ on bringing success to the club this season and has praised the ‘brilliant’ team spirit building in the Brandywell dressing room.
Derry City's Danny Lafferty in action against St Pat's last Friday night.Derry City's Danny Lafferty in action against St Pat's last Friday night.
Derry City's Danny Lafferty in action against St Pat's last Friday night.

With almost the first series of opening fixtures completed, Derry City go into the two week international break at the top of the league table, unbeaten and with 14 points amassed from six games.

It’s been a total transformation from the opening of the 2021 campaign when Derry were rock bottom after six winless matches.

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And former Northern Ireland international Lafferty claims the players are just as excited as the fans after such a promising start.

“You can see that on the pitch, everyone is giving everything for each other, for the manager and the staff,” said the Carnhill man. “Everyone is pulling together. The boys who are out of the team have been fantastic around the dressing room. No one sulks, everyone gets on with and is showing a great attitude.

“Its all healthy and that’s credit to the players themselves and the staff. It’s just a really enjoyable place to be at the minute. The hard work we put in during pre-season and at the start of the season is paying off at the minute and long may that continue.”

Stoppage time winning goals against Shamrock Rovers and St Pat’s have added to the belief and confidence in the Derry ranks and Lafferty insists the whole team are enjoying their football.

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“It’s unbelievable. Obviously scoring late goals is brilliant and makes it all the more sweeter. The fans will go away very happy and hopefully when they come back they’re excited as much as we are and ready to start where we left off.

“Everyone has their laser-like focus on and the atmosphere around the dressing room and the club is absolutely brilliant at the minute. It’s just really enjoyable to be about the place.”

It would be easy to lose heart after long-term injuries sustained to key players like Michael Duffy and Ciaron Harkin but Lafferty reckons the players in the treatment room have become the team’s biggest supporters.

“You could sulk and feel hard done by but the character in the squad isn’t like that. We feel really bad for those players out injured but it shows the character of the squad that we can rally around.

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“Those players are probably our biggest supporters now and when they come back, hopefully we’re in a good position and all they will do is strengthen us again.”

Being top of the table has allowed Derry fans to dream of a potential title challenge and while Lafferty stresses it’s too early to be looking at league positions, he’d rather be looking down that up.

“It’s early days and you will hear that from everyone here but it’s better to be at the top looking down than chasing.

“We’re not getting carried away. It’s been a good start to the first round of games and we can only build on that. There’s a long, long way to go. We’ll have ups and downs in the season but at least we’ve given ourselves a good start anyway.”