Cameron McJannet hopes Derry City momentum will give them mental edge

The defender, who joined the club in August 2020, hopes the Candy Stripes can build on the momentum from last year which saw them rise from bottom of the table to clinch European football on the final day under Ruaidhri Higgins.

It was an impressive transformation and, given the club has strengthened in the transfer market during the close season, there’s plenty of optimism on the Brandywell training ground ahead of tonight’s season opener against Dundalk.

“The way last season started and then ended, it was great to be a part of it,” said the Englishman. “Hopefully we can keep going upwards. “Mentally more than anything, it showed us we can do it and keep pushing forward and bring the club upwards.

“Hopefully, this season we can challenge for trophies. However, the most important thing we all have in our heads is to start the season well and take it from there. “But we all want to win things so we’ll see what happens.

“I’m feeling good personally and I think everyone in the squad is feeling good. We’ve all had a good pre-season so far and everyone is looking fitter by the day, so long may that continue.

“I had a few weeks at home and then it was straight back on January 1st and it’s been hard work since then.”

The excitement from the fans is rubbing off on the players, who can’t wait to get going - but the talk of challenging for titles is just outside noise as they revert back to a ‘one-game-at-a-time’ approach which served them so well last season.

“From a fans’ point-of-view it makes us excited but other than that it’s just outside talk and we just brush it over our heads, keep focused and keep doing our thing. That’s been our focus for all of pre-season...just concentrating on getting a good start and, hopefully, get the ball rolling with a win in Dundalk.”

The addition of Shane McEleney and Cameron Dummigan has brought versatility and experience to City’s defence and McJannett has welcomed the competition.

“The quality of Shane and ‘Cammy’ coming in just drives all our standards up and makes for healthy competition, which is never a bad thing. It keeps us all on our toes.”

The former Stoke City man showed his knack for scoring goals last year as he fleetingly led the club’s goalscoring charts with a flurry of goals, five in total including an important 93rd-minute equaliser against Waterford and an 89th-minute winning strike against Bohemians at Dalymount.

He’s hoping he can continue that trend this season.

“If I have another five of those this season I’ll be buzzing so, hopefully, I can get my head on a few crosses or a few two-yard finishes which would be nice,” he smiled.