Derry City face FAI Cup test aginst Cork City in Tuner's Cross

The Brandywell men, who brought in excess of 20,000 fans to the Aviva Stadium for that unforgettable November afternoon against Shelbourne two years ago, continue this season's quest for cup glory tonight with a tough trip to Cork to face Tim Clancy's runaway First Division leaders in front of what is expected to be a sell-out Turner's Cross crowd.

With promotion all but secured - Cork currently sit FIFTEEN POINTS ahead of second placed Athlone after 27 games - the Leesiders have had one eye on this cup tie since the draw was made. Indeed the recent additions of forwards Ruairi Keating and 11-cap Irish international Sean Maguire has only served to heightened home expectations ahead of a third round tie in which both side will fancy their chances of a quarter-final spot.

“I'm sure they'd have watched the stuff on YouTube and stuff like that. That was incredible," explained Higgins when asked if there’d been any chat about the club's last cup success among the players in the build up to Friday's game.

"I said it previously, it has built the next generation of supporters, I believe that Cup final, that's what it's did. You see the interest in the young people around the town. It's amazing. And I do believe that the Cup final 20 months ago – or whatever it was – had a huge, huge impact on the future of the club and its supporters.”

Higgins would love to see similar scenes in the Aviva again this season but acknowledged they are facing one of the toughest tests in Irish football currently against a Cork team on the rise.

“There's no doubt about it. They'll be well prepared. They'll obviously want to mathematically get it (promotion) done as quickly as possible, but they're going to be in the Premier Division next year and rightly so," he added, "If you look through their team, they have a lot of top, top quality players, and we need to be on the money.

“They are a Premier Division team, playing in the First Division. They've obviously signed really well and they've had a really good season. They'll be playing in the Premier Division again next year, and rightly so, they're too big of a club to be where they are. For me they're one of the biggest clubs in Ireland.

"We'll treat them with the respect they deserve. We'll prepare the way that we prepare for every single game and do our homework. Gerard Boyle's been to see them live twice, a couple of long journeys for him. It's a difficult task, but we'll be prepared properly.

“It's a big one, but it's something to look forward to. It's a difficult venue. We all know how hard it is to get results in Turner’s Cross, but we'll go there confident and try and do the business

“It's a really good tie, two big football clubs, very similar clubs in my opinion, and a brilliant venue to play your football, so we'll look forward to it. There'll be a big local home support, a couple of big signings for them, high-profile signings, so we'll have to be at our very best."