Easter blessing for Derry City as Ruaidhri Higgins gives positive update on injury front

And the Candy Stripes are moving steadily in the right direction with the return to fitness of some of their walking wounded just in time for a crunch Easter 'double-header' at Brandywell.

Midfielder Adam O'Reilly, who made such a promising start to his Derry career, returns to the fold after recovering from a hamstring injury which kept him out of the previous six matches.

Cameron McJannet also made his welcome return in the 1-0 win over 10 man Shelbourne at Tolka Park last Friday night after his hamstring issues and looked like he was never away.

City boss Ruaidhri Higgins confirmed O'Reilly's return this week and gave an encouraging update on some of those key players who were filling up the Brandywell treatment room.

"Adam O'Reilly is there now," he confirmed. "Adams is an exceptional player, brilliant and really different to what we had. He brings good balance to our midfield options. He's a breath of fresh air.

"He can also be a grumpy wee so-and-so on the pitch but a lovely lad, a brilliant lad and he's fitted into our dressing room seamlessly and he'll be a big player for us. He's worked extremely hard over the last few weeks but he's there now. He'll come into the squad on Friday and we'll see how it goes. We've three games in the next week and we have to be very mindful of that.

"McJannett is also back and the condition he's come back in is a credit to himself and the staff who worked with him. Adam O'Reilly will come back in similar fettle because he's another brilliant pro who works extremely hard and there's another couple who it might just be too soon."

Mark Connolly has been an integral part of Derry's success in recent months and is also nearing a return.

"Mark is recovering well. It was a nasty enough one but it seems to have settled a fair bit but there's protocol and targets and boxes that need ticked but that's two big players (O'Reilly and McJannet) available to us now."