Derry City's Adam O'Reilly relishing prospect of midfield battle against champions

​The silence from the normally chirpy midfielder was suffocating after that hugely disappointing 2-1 loss at his former stomping ground in the RSC which put paid to Derry's two match winning run.

He came off the bench at the start of the second half in a bid to help turn the tide but Derry simply didn't do enough - Liam Boyce's stoppage time header arriving too late in the day.

For anyone who knows the diminutive O'Reilly, it's not in his nature to sit in silence and yet he kept his emotions to himself on the long trek north - perhaps a sign of how much he doesn't like to be on the losing side.

"I might be different to quite a lot of people but after the Waterford game it was so frustrating that I don't think I said a word to anyone on the bus back," he smiled.

"I dwell on it [defeats] quite a bit because that's how much I want to win. It's frustrating when things like that go against you, those set pieces.

"We're a good footballing team and they [Waterford] made it hard for us as well. But we have to move on from it and look towards Shels." O'Reilly had been a permanent fixture in Tiernan Lynch's starting line-up until he served his one match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards following the defeat to Drogheda.

He sat out the Galway win and has yet to reclaim a starting berth since with the emergence of Gavin Whyte as an integral part of this City team.

He's desperate to play from the start against Shelbourne on Friday night and while he understands it's a squad game, he admits he gets frustrated watching on from the bench.

"I think anyone is going to be frustrated if you're a footballer. All you want to do is play football so obviously when you're not playing things can be frustrating.

"It's about perseverance to get yourself back into that team. It's relentless. So that's going to be my goal - get back into the starting eleven and push the team on as much as I can.

"It's tough but a good example is [Shamrock] Rovers and that's how they've won leagues over the years - they have good squad depth.

"I think that's what we have as well. We have quality players in the squad and I think anyone can fill a position when needs be.

“That will be very important when it comes to these double game weeks."

Whoever Lynch opts to play in the middle of the park it will be a key battle against Shelbourne's JJ Lunney, Kerr McInroy, Evan Caffrey, Ellis Chapman and Mark Coyle who will provide Damien Duff with plenty of quality options in that area.

"I get excited for battles like these," beamed O'Reilly. "When you're playing against midfielders who won the title last year it puts that extra want to do better. Personally I go into every game thinking I'm going to win all my duels - that's the mentality a lot of the boys in the team have - that winning mentality."

He knows Derry must make the most of this home double header if they're to keep on the coattails of the leading pack after another crucial three game week.

"It's about making it an absolute fortress and where teams actually fear coming up to the Brandywell. That's what we need to build and with the new stand we'll be getting a lot more supporters through the door and we want to put on a show for them - not just get points on the board but play good football and win the league."