Derry City's Joe Thomson happy to sign new deal but annoyed with Drogheda United defeat

The 24-year-old, who signed a two year contract extension with the club on Saturday, admits he was finding it difficult to force his way into Devine’s plans but since the Limavady man’s appointment things have turned around and not just for him but for the whole squad.

“I think Ruaidhri is getting the best out of me and he’s getting the best out of most of us to be honest,” explained Thomson.

“I was finding it difficult at the start of the season under Decky and for whatever reason I wasn’t maybe in his plans. Sometimes your face just doesn’t fit but a change of manager means a clean slate and thankfully since Ruaidhri has come in it was a fresh start and I set myself a challenge to get back into the team and just take it from there.”

Thomson, who confirmed his family were due to move to Derry in the coming weeks, was delighted the Brandywell club had shown its faith in him by awarding the two year deal at a time when they are also illustrating their intent to challenge for honours with the signings of Dundalk duo, Patrick McEleney and Michael Duffy.

“I’m delighted that the club has shown good faith in me and hopefully I can repay them over the next two and a bit years with good performances. I’m hoping we can make some good memories together,” he stated.

“It’s a good project that the club is looking to put in place and they have attracted two of the best players in the country so far so to be offered a new deal was really a ‘no brainer’ for me.”

As for Sunday’s loss at Drogheda, the ex-Celtic man felt the Candy Stripes deserved something from the encounter at Head in the Game Park.

“I don’t think we got what we deserved out of the game,” he insisted, “I thought we were comfortable for most of the game, Okay they had maybe one breakaway chance at the end of the game, but we were pushing bodies forward and that’s what happens when you don’t defend set-plays.

“We had chances in the first half but we weren’t as ruthless as we have been in previous games. Look, it’s one game and we still have five to go so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have a huge game on Friday night at the Brandywell and it looks like it’s going to be a sell out so with our fans behind us, we are confident going into that game. We won’t be feeling sorry for ourselves.

“We know Bohemians are a good team and we’ll have to be at our best but our home form has been decent. It’s picked up a lot and that’s because we have had our ‘12th man’ back in the stands.”