Jamie Stott: "I'm feeling back to myself"
JAMIE STOTT reckons it's a shame the League of Ireland season is drawing to a close as he's enjoying his best form in a Derry City shirt since arriving from Morecambe in July last year.
The 28-year-old's centre-half partner Patrick McClean has been hogging the limelight recently with his imperious defensive displays but Stott has quietly gone about his business and proven himself a pillar of Mark Connolly's rejuvenated team.
Despite playing on the right side of that central defensive partnership as a natural left footer, Stott has been a stabilising factor in Derry's defence, which has kept four clean sheets in its last six fixtures.
The former Oldham Athletic defender has incredibly bounced back from the tragic passing of his newborn baby daughter last June - a period he described as 'the toughest' of his life.
He's been a key cog in the club's remarkable turnaround in form since his return at the start of August and says he's 'feeling back to myself'.
"I'm feeling back to myself," said Stott. "It's a shame the season is coming to an end because I feel like I'm getting into my stride. It's probably the best I've played in a Derry shirt. I think you can see that with quite a few of the players.
"Paddy has been playing absolutely unbelievably. I think he's been very good all season. His performance the other night and probably the last few weeks have been really good and it's a pleasure to play alongside him.
"We're building a good connection and you can see that with the clean sheets we've been getting and performances."
"We've been a bit more relaxed as a team and you can see a proper structure about us. You can see how we're trying to play and results have backed up performances."
Stott credits interim boss Connolly for bringing 'a lot of calmness and positivity and consistency to the team.'
"We've been building from the back a lot more than we had done previously but everyone is just playing with a smile on their face and a lot of calmness. Us boys at the back are just trying to organise everything, and you can see that from the clean sheets that there's been much better defensive displays.
"Personally I feel really good at the minute. Physically I feel really good and I wish we were in a better position in the season and carrying on but the cup final is coming and I want to try and stay fit and keep improving up until that game.
“I think I've been playing well recently and hopefully that stays the same for the remaining games."
Stott has been amongst the Derry players visiting local schools this week for the 'Red and White Day' in the lead-up to the FAI Cup Final on November 8th.
He's feeling the excitement around the city and hopes to give back to the supporters by signing off their Brandywell campaign tonight with a memorable victory.
"The last few months have been really good barring the Drogheda game the other night. We've been really good and we want to carry that on to Friday - our last home game of the season - really strong.
"The fans deserve a good performance from us. I think they can see we're working hard and giving everything on the pitch.
"That's not going to change on Friday night or for the remaining three games of the season.
"We're going to leave everything on the pitch and hopefully give them a good spectacle, going out firing on all cylinders on Friday. Hopefully, leave them with a really good performance going into the Sligo game and, obviously, into the cup final."
After a clean sheet on Monday night in the 1-0 win over Pat's, it would be ideal to follow that up with another against Dundalk. Head-to-head results this season between the clubs would suggest that's unlikely given the four league and cup games so far have produced 17 goals!
"As a centre half I want us to keep as many clean sheets as we can. We've been on a really good run of defensive displays recently so we want that again. "Especially in our last game in front of the Derry fans at Brandywell, we want to put on a really good display going into the last couple of games.
“As a back four and Tom [Norcott] or Brian [Maher], we want to keep another clean sheet or at least another good solid defensive display, and then let the attacking boys do what they can do and go win us the game.
"I'm hoping it's not a ding-dong, but we'll see what kind of game it is on the night."