Derry City can ill afford to look past Shelbourne says Ruaidhri Higgins

Derry City debutante Matty Smith in action against Sligo on Monday night. The Scot could be in line for his first start in Shelbourne tonight.

An unbeaten start to the campaign, which included a rare victory over Shamrock Rovers and draws against Dundalk at Oriel Park and Sligo Rovers, has served to raise expectation levels which were already heightened amongst the City support.

Facing three winnable games against newly promoted Shelbourne and UCD and then hosting Drogheda, Derry will be fancied to bring home the majority of the spoils.

However, Higgins is guarding against complacency and insists his side can expect egg on their face if they underestimate a well drilled Shels side, described by boss, Damien Duff as a ‘giant’ of Irish football.

“I know the manager, he’s a good lad and an outstanding coach. One thing we can be sure of, and with Joey O’Brien in there as well, they’ll be extremely well set-up.”

Derry locked horns with Shels in pre-season at the AUL Complex in Dublin and Higgins expects the Dubliners to be ‘aggressive’ and deploy a high pressing game.

“They’re aggressive. They’ve recruited really well and have a lot of good players. We’ve done nothing as a team at all so if we go there with any arrogance or snobbery then we will go back up the road with nothing.

“We can’t afford to be like that. If we go there with the right mindset and drive we expect, and do our jobs individually and collectively, then we can get a good result but if we don’t we could get turned over, it’s as simple as that.”

The Drumcondra side has experienced a mixed bag so far on their return to the top flight, losing 3-0 on the opening day to St Pat’s before clinching victory (2-0) away to Drogheda. Last week, despite carving out plenty of chances, they were held 0-0 by UCD at the Belfield.

Higgins expects a tough encounter but he’s delighted to see the First Division champions back in the top flight, renewing a rivalry with Derry which the Derry boss thoroughly enjoyed during his playing career.

“I played in some of those games. The one that always sticks out for me is the (League) cup final in ’06. Brilliant. And there was a real rivalry back on those days.

“I’m delighted they are back in the league.