Derry City boss Ruaidhri Higgins looking for adaptable front man

With striker Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe's loan spell from Dundalk ending at the end of the season and the Londoner since signing for Bohemians, the Limavady man remains in the market for a versatile player who will bolster his attacking options.

One man who Higgins is believed to be tracking is St Patrick’s Athletic front man Matty Smith. The 24-year-old played a major role in the Saints’ FAI Cup glory in 2021 and could be the man to fill that attacking void.

“There will be one more addition but we want to get it right, so we’ll take our time,” he insisted.

“We want to make sure that whoever we bring in he’s quality and adds what we need. It might take a wee bit of time but we have a few irons in the fire, but sometimes these things come off and sometimes they don’t, so we’ll see what happens.

“I think whoever we bring in, he needs to be able to play in the forward line, maybe someone who’s quite adaptable, as we need someone who can play up top for us, but we’ll wait and see.”

City start the 2022 campaign at Dundalk on February 18th before then facing champions Shamrock Rovers at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium seven days later and Higgins concedes the squad are now starting to get excited for the forthcoming campaign.

“I think when the fixtures come out it makes it real. You know that you aren’t too far away,” he added.

“We start pre-season next Monday and the excitement will start to build, but from Monday on we just want to get the players fighting fit and really focused in that period before the season starts and try to hit the ground running.

“Look, it will be a big occasion and I’m sure the Dundalk crowd will come out in numbers given Stevie’s cult hero status there, he’s a huge figure in Dundalk and they’ll be out to be support him and the team.

“There’s no doubt about it. It will be very, very, difficult but it’s a game that we’ll be very, very excited about.”