FAI Cup glory can be catalyst for further success for Derry City says Ruaidhri Higgins

Derry go into Sunday's last four against First Division outfit Treaty United at a sold-out Brandywell as 4/7 favourites to go all the way in the competition with Waterford and Shelbourne making up the semi-final line-up.

Momentum is with the five-time winners who are on an eight match winning streak and pushing Shamrock Rovers all the way in the race for the Premier Division title with four games to go.

Higgins' troops are on an upward trajectory and the Limavady native admits his ambition is growing as the Candy Stripes edge nearer to that November 13th showpiece in the capital.

"It's great getting to semi-finals and finals but you want to win the cup," said the City boss. "A club of this size and its history in the cup, a football town, people love their football here and they deserve success. We'll try everything in our power to bring that."

The Brandywell boss is by no means overlooking Treaty United but he's fully aware of how winning the FAI Cup has proven to be a catalyst for clubs like Dundalk, Cork City and Rovers in recent years.

"Stephen Bradley took over Shamrock Rovers in the middle of the 2016 season and it wasn't until 2019 when they won the FAI Cup and went on to win back-to-back leagues and are top of the league again with four games to go. So it can be a springboard," said Higgins who won the FAI Cup with Derry in 2012.

"When I was a player at Dundalk in 2014 we won the League Cup which was the club's first trophy in a while and again that was a springboard to kick on and dominate for a few years.

"So it can be a catalyst for clubs and hopefully, now we've a lot of work to do and have to get through this tie first, but going on recent history in terms of clubs kicking on, it can be a catalyst.

"We're second in the league and in a cup semi-final but you get greedy. You get hungry for more and your ambition grows and you want to win everything, that's human nature."

Skipper Patrick McEleney has won three FAI Cups and played in six finals at the Aviva Stadium and he agrees that the taste of winning silverware simply whets the appetite.

"I genuinely think there's no ceiling with the way we've started," said 'Fats'. "Ruaidhri has been a massive part of it. He's been unbelievable for me and the club. This is the start of the journey so it's hard to predict how things will pan out. It's been an amazing start for us but we have to go and win the trophy.

"It's no good getting to semi-finals or finals, it's about winning it at the end of the day because you won't remember anything else. We have to go and win the trophy.

"When I signed here I said I wasn't coming back to put my feet up. I was coming back here to win things and I wouldn't have done so if I didn't believe we could do it. Obviously with Ruaidhri at the head of it, I fully believe we're going somewhere."