Derry City extend deals for Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe and Ciaran Coll

Experienced St Johnston native, Coll’s new contract will keep him on Foyleside until the end of the 2020 campaign while Ogedi-Uzokwe’s loan deal has been extended until November.

Both players played significant roles in Derry City’s impressive comeback in the 2-2 draw against Shamrock Rovers on Saturday night.

Coll headed his first goal for the club to claw City back in the game before Ogedi-Uzokwe pounced with six minutes to go to fire in the equaliser as Derry took a positive point into the mid-season break.

There were fears that goal could’ve been Ogedi-Uzokwe’s final contribution to the Candy Stripes with his loan deal from parent club, Colchester due to expire at the end of the month.

However, Devine has managed to negotiate an extension to that deal which will keep the Londoner at Brandywell until the end of the current campaign. And the City supremo is delighted to keep him on board.

“Junior is a fantastic player,” said Devine. “He is great on the ball and has become a real threat for us in the first half of the season.

“He is capable of giving you something different and is a handful for any defence. We’re delighted that Colchester have agreed to let him stay on and we thank them for that. I believe that Junior will benefit a lot from his experience playing at this level.”

Junior, who has netted four goals this season can’t wait to push on when the league resumes at the end of June.

“I’m enjoying it here,” smiled the striker. “I like Derry. I like the people in Derry and my team mates all get along well so I’m really enjoying it. I’m delighted to stay until the end of the season.It’s a tough league but we’ll just keep going, get more wins and you never know what could happen.

Meanwhile, Coll was delighted to sort out his immediate future on the back of scoring his first goal for the Candy Stripes.

“I’m happy to get off the mark now and hopefully there’s a few more to come from me during the rest of the season.”