Derry City duo Mark Connolly and Patrick McEleney return for Sligo trip

​The Derry City boss rarely gives anything away when it comes to his team selection and it's become a futile exercise to second guess the Limavady native in recent weeks.

Whether he plays with a front three, one up top or a false No. 9, it's anybody's guess ahead of Saturday's trip to Sligo particularly given he's made full use of his squad and its versatile ability to adapt to various shapes and formations.

Derry go in search of a fifth successive victory this weekend which would ensure they remain on the league's summit but Higgins was content to keep us guessing when it came to his team selection.

He's not quite at 'Tinkerman' levels but Higgins has enjoyed the luxury of rotating his team over recent weeks given the heavy schedule and it's worked a treat.

"You always have to take the opposition into consideration, you have to take people's form into consideration, people's fitness in terms of where they are," he said when asked about his penchant to change systems and personnel.

"No matter the system we play, if we play 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 or a false No. 9, we always have the same principles in terms of how we want to play. Just because you change your system doesn't mean you have to change the way you play. It's just small tweaks here and there if we want to use them so hopefully I keep you guessing," he smiled.

Two names who would normally be a shoe-in to be in the starting line-up are City skipper McEleney and experienced centre-half Connolly but they're returning from long-term injuries and will be eased back into contention.

Higgins revealed both players have returned to full training this week and will be involved in some capacity on Saturday and their presence on the training pitch this week has served to raise the standards.

"Their shirts will be hung up in the dressing room in Sligo anyway, that's if this week goes according to plan obviously," he confirmed.

It's a rare treat to have such a selection headache now and Higgins says competition for places is 'fierce' and it's something the team needs if they're to be successful.

"This week for example, Connolly is back in training, McEleney is back in training, the players that people have been talking about that have been unavailable, they're all training. Standards rise, there's fierce competition now and it's really healthy and they support each other which is brilliant.

"We have good competition right throughout the pitch and for us to succeed we'll need that.

"From Dalymount on the Friday we made four changes on the Monday and then another four on the Friday so everybody is in a nice place physically going into this week. They got a couple of days off to recharge their batteries physically and mentally. Training yesterday was extremely sharp and the players are in great spirits but we need to go down there with a real steely focus to try and win the game.

We've got ourselves into an excellent position given the circumstances so it's important we double down on our efforts to push on,” added the City manager.