Derry City must be 'willing to fight' for league title says Pat Hoban

​The 32-year-old Galway native has three league title winning medals on his glowing CV but he's as hungry and as driven as ever as he embarks on a new 'exciting' challenge on Foyleside.

His arrival certainly boasts the Brandywell club's chances of loosening Shamrock Rovers' grip on the league trophy but he expects this season to be as competitive as ever and insists Derry will have to 'earn it' and make sacrifices if they're to rein in the Dubliners who finished seven points ahead of them last term.

"It's 1997 since they last won the title," he said. "You have to earn the right to win the league. Every league I've won we've had to earn it. It's a 36 game season and you have to be ready for every game and have to try and win every game.

"It's not going to be any different this year. You have to earn it and there will be a lot of sacrifice in that too. We have to be willing to fight for it.”

He wants to join an exclusive band of players who have won a league title with more than one club and he believes Derry have assembled a squad with the quality to make that personal ambition a reality.

"All the lads I played with, they all have serious quality and that's why they're here at Derry City. Derry have been building a squad now for the past two years and I'm just delighted I'm now a part of it."

He’s excited to reunite with ex-Dundalk teammates who he developed a formidable partnership with at Oriel Park.

"I've played with all of them, there's like six or seven here. The relationship that myself, Mickey [Duffy] and Fats [Patrick McEleney] had back in 2018 if you were watching the games at all, we always connected really, really well.

“I always wanted to come to Derry. I knew from the lads that are here already by playing with them. Some of the players I’ve won various things with them over the years, so it was a no brainer for me really.”