Derry City's Will Patching confident results will come

Will Patching believes one positive result can finally get Derry City’s season up and running.
Derry City's Will Patching.Derry City's Will Patching.
Derry City's Will Patching.

The Candy Stripes who face Drogheda United at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium tonight (KO 7.45pm), are still in search of their first point of the season but Patching remains confident things will turn sooner rather than later.

The attacking midfielder believes City played well for periods against champions Shamrock Rovers on Tuesday night and is adamant Declan Devine’s squad has enough experience to ensure there is no hangover from what has been a poor start to the season.

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“Even though we are young, I’m sure we’ll be fine. If we can get one result that will get the ball rolling for us and we’ll go from there,” insisted the 22-year-old.

“We have got a lot of experience, players who have played at a higher level, but the luck hasn’t been on our side though I feel we have good experience in the squad.

“We aren’t getting any luck but that’s the way football is. We have to stick together and keep going.

“The strength we have in our squad can turn things around. You could see against Rovers that we are trying to play the right way and we are trying to play good football. We have got experience in our squad and players who have played at a high level.

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“We have been going into training since the (Shamrock) Rovers game and everyone is working hard to make sure we are ready for Drogheda. We have to work hard in the game and hopefully we can get the three points.”

Striker David Parkhouse, who is in his second spell with the Candy Stripes, has struggled at the Brandywell this time around but Patching is confident the young front-man will come good.

“David will get goals, 100 per cent. He was the club’s top goalscorer the last time he was here,” added Patching.

“He just needs to get the ball rolling by getting his first goal and then I’m sure he’ll be flying.”

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The Drogs go into this evening’s game off the back of a fantastic 4-0 win at Longford Town and the one-time Manchester City starlet is expecting a tough test against Tim Clancy’s men.

“They are a good side but I think if you look at the Rovers game, we had a lot of possession and played alright, we just need to take our chances when we get them,” he added.

“They’ll be coming here confident and they have had an alright start but every game is a tough game for us, especially with the start that we have had. However, as I said, we have got to stick together as that’s the main thing that will turn this around and I’m sure we’ll be alright.”

Patching, who is currently on-loan from Dundalk until the summer, says switching to Derry was an easy decision after what was a frustrating time at Oriel Park last season.

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“For myself, it’s all about getting the minutes and obviously getting the wins in as well but it’s good to get 90 minutes in every game so far. I’m getting my fitness up,” he explained.

“It was frustrating last season but that’s just the way football is, sometimes things don’t work out and another door opens.

“It was a strange season last season for me, but I’m looking forward to the rest of this one.

“I was just focused on trying to get into the team and then when this opportunity came up to come here, I took it and was never really focused on going back to England.

“My deal here is until the summer and then we’ll see what happens after that.”

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