'He makes runs like Mark Farren and plays like Rory Patterson': Devine impressed by Tim Nilsen's Derry City debut

The 27 year-old Norwegian has qualities which remind the City boss of both the late Mark Farren and former Northern Ireland international striker, Rory Patterson and believes the player will only improve once he gains a better understanding of the league and his teammates.

No pressure then, bearing in mind the late Farren is the club's record goalscorer with 113 goals in 209 appearances while Patterson plundered 93 goals during his two spells with the Candy Stripes.

Debutante, Nilsen led the line in the slender 1-0 loss to champions, Dundalk at Oriel Park on the opening night of the season but showed enough to suggest he could potentially be a real hit for the club this season.

In fact the former Fredrikstad striker was presented with the visitors' best chance of the match on 55 minutes when Jamie McDonagh found him with a terrific cross but he was denied a debut goal by a point blank save from experienced goalkeeper, Gary Rogers who got a strong hand to the ball despite momentarily being wrong-footed by the striker's shot.

Devine had opted to invite Dundalk on and attempt to hit them on the counter attack with Nilsen providing a key outlet and the Derry boss was impressed with some of the Norwegian's runs off the ball which, he felt, 'scared' the Dundalk defence.

"I thought he started brilliantly," said Devine. "I thought he scared them early on. He makes runs that Mark Farren would've made and he plays a lot like Rory Patterson plays.

"So you mix the two of them together and I think we've found a real top player. I'm not putting any pressure on him but I think once he gets fitter and gets the hang of this league and understands it a bit more I think we'll definitely have an addition to the group."

Nilsen wasn't the only City player to impress and despite the defeat and the manner and timing of the goal conceded, there were plenty of positives to take from the performance, particularly given the fact FIVE of the nine new signings made their debuts against a Dundalk team which had a familiar look about it.

Hull City loanee, Danny Lupano showed no fear despite being thrown into the lion's den at Oriel Park against both Michael Duffy and Dane Massey on Dundalk's left wing while Eoin Toal produced a dominant performance at the heart of the City defence while skipper, Conor McCormack managed the game superbly.

It was an encouraging display on the first night of the season and while Devine was 'absolutely disgusted' to lose the game, he saw plenty to be optimistic about as they look to bounce back against Finn Harps at Brandywell next Friday night.

"Danny Lapanu is 19 years of age and is a fantastic player. Eoin Toal turning 21 this weekend is a fantastic player, He was outstanding tonight. Eoin Toal has been coming here and playing against Pat Hoban since he was 19. Tonight was the first night I really seen him man up against Hoban. He's played well against Hoban in the past but tonight Eoin Toal was excellent.

"Imagine what Danny Lupano will be like two years down the line. He's a beast of a boy, he's a great lad. He gets forward and defends. He was playing against one of the best players in the league tonight and hasn't put a foot wrong.

"I thought McCormack was outstanding, his guile and experience is something I don't think we had last year. I think he's only going to get better. The security and experience that he gave us and the know-how. I thought Tim Nilsen was a handful. Peter Cherrie has made a wonderful save.

"It's very fine margins when you come here. If you look at Nilsen and Walter (Figueira) and Adam Liddle and Stevie Mallon coming off the bench, there's good things to come out of tonight but we're all gutted because we're not in the habit of losing football matches.

"We're absolutely gutted but I want to sit back and reflect over the weekend and we will want to take a lot of positives out of this.

"I think we have good players. Players who firstly wanted to come to our football club and secondly wanted to improve and that's the key. It's the first game of the season. There's 35 games to go and we've got to make sure every game takes care of itself. If we keep getting the same application, the same buy-in and the same desire then we will be alright.

"We'll not be judged on coming away to Dundalk. We've got to make sure we win our next game. Last year we didn't lose two in the spin and we've got to make sure we don't do it again this year.

"It's not that long ago every time Dundalk played Derry they were hitting the four or five. Tonight when they came off the pitch they knew they got a right good game. We had a couple of half chances towards the end to sneak an equaliser but I'm delighted with the signings we've brought to the club. I'm delighted with the bite and application and their willingness to try and get something from the game.

"There's a lot of disappointing people in the changing room and that shows how far we've come. in such a short period of time."