Derry City midfielder Jordan McEneff praises Ruaidhrí Higgins and Damien Duff

The 22-year-old this week became the third Derry City player in just over a year to win the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month accolade, securing February's prize after starting this season in superb form.

McEneff has already netted four times this year and he's looking forward to facing his former club Shelbourne tomorrow night at Tolka Park.

"Obviously last season towards the end the team was doing well and I didn't play much but I’ve got a full pre-season under my belt and felt fit going into the season. It was good to start the first few games and get a few goals which did the world of good for my confidence so hopefully it continues," he insisted.

"I don't think any player has a nailed on starting place every week because the squad is that big. If you want to stay in the team, you have to be playing well and scoring and that's a good thing.

"There's always competition for places so you're always trying to give 100% and impact the games."

Two separate fractures in his back while playing for Arsenal U21s left McEneff distraught and he was full of praise for Shels manager Damien Duff and his coaching staff for getting him back playing professional football.

"A couple of years ago my confidence was completely gone so just to say I'm back playing and fit was something I hoped for but back then it probably wasn't something I was thinking about. Now, to be back playing and scoring goals again, it's a great feeling," he stated.

“I went to Shels and I’d played 30 minutes in the previous 14 months prior to that. I hadn’t played any football for 14 months before I joined Shelbourne.

"And Damien was fantastic. He eased me into training and I was only playing 30 minutes at the start of the season because I wasn’t ready in that sense. I was only back playing.

“I had two fractures in my lower back, on both sides, so it was one injury after another. It took a long time to sort itself out.

“It was about getting used to what my body could handle, having not trained and played in so long, and getting up to the sharpness because I’d lost a lot of sharpness with the time out injured. I don’t like using excuses, but it’s just good to be back playing and trying to get back up to speed."

The former Gunners’ starlet joined his home town club last August and while he didn't feature much, he did come off the bench in the FAI Cup Final, scoring City's fourth goal from the penalty spot against Shels. Indeed, he admits that day in the Aviva Stadium was the best moment of his career to date but he was full of praise for the Dubliners after his time there in 2022.

“When I went to Shels it was just good to be back training on a consistent basis and good being fit," he admitted. "In that sense, it was unbelievable just to be training day in, day out and working with great coaches was great.

"Obviously my performances personally weren’t as good as I’d hoped they would be but it was a good experience and everyone at the club was fantastic to me down there. I’m so thankful to all of them.

"Then to come to Derry, come on in the cup final and score a goal was, I don’t know how to explain it, it was a relief. It was the best day of my career so far."

McEneff says this tomorrow evening's encounter will be nothing like last November's cup final and he is expecting a much closer affair.

"If you look at all the games between Derry and Shelbourne last year, other than the Cup final, they were all very tight games," he stated.

"I was involved in two of them as a Shelbourne player as well. They were 2-1s, 1-0, or 1-1s and we’re expecting another tough, tight game. We know they’re always set up well with good players in attack as well. (It’ll be) definitely a battle, and with the Cup final last year they’ll be even more up for it."

Ruaidhrí Higgins and Duff both previously worked in Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland set-up and McEneff can see why the duo were selected, as their attention to detail is second to none.

“I think both of them are great," he confirmed. "The detail they both go into in training is at a very high level.

"So, to be able to work under them, and both have played at a good level with Damien Duff obviously playing at the highest level there is, you are only going to learn things from them, on and off the pitch, things like how you recover, how you play, tactically and technically. They are two great managers.

“I think it would be their attention to detail and ability to analyse other teams and how to break them down. Even in training, it’s just small details they add to your game to try and improve yourself.”

After winning three from their opening four matches, the Candystripes have drawn their last two games before the international break and McEneff admits the break came at a good time for City.

“We started well the first three games,” he stated.

"The last couple of games we’ve had a couple of frustrating draws but we’re still unbeaten and there’s a lot of the season to play. We’re happy enough but we want to be better.

"Look, we have got a few lads out with niggles and are close to coming back so I suppose to have two weeks off to try get lads up to speed was a good thing for us. We had a good couple of days break but then it was hard work so we're ready to go.”

McEneff was delighted to pick up the monthly prize.

“I’m buzzing. To win the player of the month is not easy because of the quality there is in the league so to win the first month gives you a bit of confidence going into the rest of the season.”

With the likes of Cameron McJannet, Adam O'Reilly, Cameron Dummigan, Michael Duffy and Colm Whelan not that far away from returning from injury, McEneff feels their return will help the squad.

"I think having lads of that quality coming back in will lift everyone's game up a notch," he added. "Definitely, I think they will bring the standards up and give everyone competition to get in the team."