Derry City can capitalise on being an unknown quantity this season

​And eight days out from the new League of Ireland campaign and a visit to the home of the champions at Tolka Park, Lynch hopes a transformative preseason on Foyleside can hand the Candy Stripes an advantage.

Lynch has had a full preseason with his players and the opportunity to put his stamp on the team he inherited from former Brandywell boss Ruaidhri Higgins.

It was a team that lost out in the FAI Cup Final and that suffered a seismic collapse in the final weeks of the title race.

Despite being Shelbourne's biggest challengers for the best part of last season, Damien Duff will be facing into the unknown to a certain extent come next Friday night.

Lynch has brought in SEVEN new players and remains in the market for more while the move to the club's temporary training base at the Owenbeg Centre of Excellence has improved preparations no end.

The City boss travelled to The Mansion House in Dublin's city centre for the League of Ireland launch on Wednesday where he got to mix with his managerial peers for the first time since taking the reins at Brandywell.

He hopes his close season transfer business and his new approach can pull the wool over some of their eyes in the opening weeks of the season.

"I really enjoyed preseason with the players and I think there's lots still to come as far as getting to know the different managers and players in the league," said Lynch.

"It's a really exciting time and one we're really looking forward to."

"I think there's a lot of excitement about the players we brought in. Players who played at the highest level.

"There will be a freshness, a little bit of an unknown about them and hopefully we can use that to our advantage," he smiled.

"Ruaidhri [Higgins] and his team did a fabulous job. You're not going in there to rip things up, you're going into try and put your own stamp on things and tweak things slightly and introduce your own game model.

"We introduced new players who we would like to get in and around what we're doing and now it's about getting ready for the business end."

He's already made it clear he won't be making any brash statements about winning titles or expectations in his maiden season in an unfamiliar league and he's very much a 'game at a time' kind of guy.

"The big thing we have to look at is Shelbourne next Friday night. This is a team that will probably take a little bit of time to get them where we want them to go.

"There's lots of exciting things going on around the club on and off the pitch and it's something we want to build on and progress."

It's certainly a baptism of fire facing the league champions on their home patch on opening night but Lynch is ready for the challenge.

"Shelbourne, the home of the champions, doesn't get any tougher but you have to play every team in the league whether you get them at the start or the end. All those games come thick and fast.

"It's one we have to go and embrace. Go and enjoy. We know how difficult it's going to be but it's a great challenge for us,” added the Derry manager.