Derry City striker Danny Mullen relishing friendly rivalry with Liam Boyce

​Add a fit again Pat Hoban and an eager teenage striker Sean Patton into the mix and that frontline is one of the most fiercely competitive positions in the City team.

Mullen and Boyce are tied on four goals apiece and Tiernan Lynch has been rotating the pair since the start of the campaign.

Former Partick Thistle forward Mullen scored the winner in the 1-0 victory over St Pat's at Brandywell but dropped to the bench for the 2-1 win over Cork City where his replacement, Boyce headed home the opener.

There's been no confrontations, jealousy or frostiness between the pair. In fact it's been the exact opposite as the seasoned professionals are fully aware of the necessity of a strong squad if they're to challenge for honours.

Mullen understands it's a case of 'horses for courses' with all four of Derry's strikers offering something different.

"People might look at it and think 'he's scored so he should be playing the next game' but the gaffer has done really well in building a strong squad so there's games where it might suit 'Boycie' better or they might suit the two of us better or might suit me better," began Mullen when asked how he feels about Lynch's rotation policy.

"We've got the quality to step in and perform at that same high level and with the three game weeks there's going to be rotation needed so it's a real squad game.

"When Boycie is scoring and doing well I'm delighted for him and he's delighted for me when I'm scoring and doing well so there's no animosity or anything like that towards each other. It's always good to have a good squad and good teammates around you.

"Pat's another quality player we've got in the squad and it's nice that he's getting back up to full fitness now and can start to be used. We're going to need everyone that's in this squad to get to where we want to be."

So what's been the recipe for success over the past couple of weeks in his opinion?

"It's been a mixture of a few things: Hard work. We're all working our nuts off. The message from the gaffer is getting a lot clearer now and it's just time as well.

"The boys are gelling and doing the work on the training pitch and it's all going well now so hopefully the longer we are together you’ll see a clearer picture of how we want to work.

"The boys have been great over the last month or so. Boys are full of confidence and that all comes with working hard and fighting for each other. We're in a good place at the moment.”

It was his strike partner Boyce who scored the goal the last time Derry played Drogheda in that frustrating 3-1 loss on home soil last April.

Mullen knows how difficult a venue United Park is and the value of a quick start and perhaps an early goal.

"That game was disappointing. I felt we controlled that game up until the point where Boycie gets sent off and it flipped the fill game. We will hope to go down and control this game and start on the frontfoot and see where it gets us."

Drogheda uncharacteristically have conceded nine goals in their last four games but Mullen reckons Derry will need to be ruthless when goalscoring opportunities arrive against a team looking to rediscover their early season form.

"When you go away to this kind of ground it's always tough. They'll look to get the fans on their side and we have to start fast and try to score early as well and quieten their crowd.

"If we don't manage to get an early goal we have to make sure we don't concede and feel our way into the game and we have enough quality to go to these stadiums and pick up points."