Derry City boss Ruaidhrí Higgins isn't fooled by Dundalk's false start

​The Derry boss says he will even wish the new Lilywhites manager the 'best of luck' in his mission to revive the 2019 league title winners but not until he's achieved his own objective - three points to revitalise the Candy Stripes' title challenge.

Higgins knows the talent and potential in the current Dundalk squad, pointing to the presence of league winners Daryl Horgan, Andy Boyle, Robbie Benson and John Mountney.

And with last year's FAI Cup winning manager, Daly installed in the dugout Higgins is bracing his squad for a difficult night at his former stomping ground.

Dundalk, who prop up the league table with just 12 points from a possible 51, have conceded (25) almost as many goals as Derry have scored (27) so far this season but Higgins pointed to a new-found stubbornness on their home patch.

“To be fair if you look at their last run of home fixtures, they haven't conceded a goal in God knows how long at home, so they're definitely picking up," said Higgins.

"They obviously beat Shamrock Rovers very recently at Oriel Park and it's John Daly's first game really so the crowd will be up I'm sure.

"If you look through their squad they have the likes of Andy Boyle, league winner, Daryl Horgan, league winner, Robbie Benson, league winner and I’m probably missing out one or two others so we know that they've got real talent in their group.

“You look at Archie Davis for example who's one of the best full backs in the country, so they'll be disappointed with their points return and I have no doubt that they'll climb the table between now and the end of the season.”

Oriel Park was for so long a daunting trip in the fixture calendar for Derry but not under Higgins' watch.

The ex-Dundalk assistant boss lost on his first visit to Oriel as Derry manager on June 25th, 2021 when, interestingly, current Candy Stripes Daniel Kelly and Pat Hoban handed the home side a 2-1 victory - Bolton's Eoin Toal getting one back for City!

That was the last defeat at Oriel Park under Higgins' tenure! His record since stands at two wins and three draws.

It was a 3-1 victory the last time Higgins led his team to the Co. Louth venue but he's reluctant to study the history books for too long.

“We were good that night, we earned the right to go home and win the game and we know Oriel Park, if you look at their recent run of results at Oriel they haven't conceded a goal. I know they've had a few 0-0 draws but you look at the fixtures, they've been really tough fixtures at home and they haven't conceded a goal in their last five or whatever.

"We know the task at hand, we have to go down and try and get a big, big three points that we need to get ourselves back on the road.”

After a frustrating 2-2 draw with Sligo Rovers last week which followed a 1-0 loss at the hands of Shamrock Rovers, Higgins is desperate to return to winning ways with Shelbourne six points better off at the top.

“We have to try our best to get back to winning ways and put another run together that's what we hope and that's what we'll strive to do.”

"We've had a good week this week and hopefully we can put it into practice now on Friday.”

“Well obviously we would like more points and if you look at it, it went from eight points to one point, now it's back to six so things can change very, very quickly in this league so aye, you just need a bit of consistency and put a run together.

"We had a half decent run going, then we lost the Rovers and it's important that we try and get back on the horse and get a big three points now on Friday.”