No pain, no gain for Derry City's Adam O'Reilly ahead of 2025 season kick-off

The Cork man ended weeks of speculation surrounding his future when agreeing his return to Foyleside at the beginning of December, insisting he had 'unfinished business' at the club. O'Reilly finished his first pre-season campaign under new boss Tiernan Lynch who brought increased levels of intensity to training which included a hugely productive camp on Fota Island and he's excited to put everything into action against Shelbourne this weekend.

"I think we're more than ready. It's been extremely tough and they've put us through our paces but I think we needed it. And I think it probably brought us together even more going through hell if you want to call it that," he smiled. "But I think we're really prepared now for the season.

"Pre-season hasn't been easy but all the boys have got through it and we're all eager to start the season now. We got a lot of games in pre-season so we're ready to get back into it full steam now."

Lynch is less than three months in the Brandywell hotseat and despite his success at Larne he's unproven in the League of Ireland. So what's been the biggest change to date under the Belfast man and what can Derry fans expect from this new-look team?

"It's very exciting football. He wants to play at a high intensity so it'll get people standing in the crowd. Once we start gelling properly everything will start to be put into place.

"High intensity is key for what Tiernan has brought to us and I think we kind of needed that as well. We're in a good place at the moment."

O'Reilly believes he's matured as a player and pre-season fixtures against Ballymena and Glenavon recently have provided an insight into where Lynch will utilise the midfielder.

New role

He's always wanted to add goals to his high energy game and playing in a much more advanced role under Lynch excites him.

"That was one of the conversations I had with Tiernan when I was first joining back - about playing in that higher role," he explained. "I've always wanted to add goals to my game. I said it the first day I came here two years ago. He said he wants to help me with that now and it's just about putting it into practice.

"I haven't had any in pre-season yet but I've had a few chances where I probably wouldn't have had a couple of years back. You can see that things are working and hopefully when it comes to the start of the season I can put everything into practice." It's about conserving his energy and being disciplined in the right areas of the pitch.

"It was always in me growing up. I would always try to help out everyone around the pitch if I could, so if I use my energy in the right areas, get into the box more and even taking players on higher up the pitch, that could help my game and help the team get more goals."

For those players who suffered an end of season collapse in both the league title race and FAI Cup final, O'Reilly believes the 'hurt' of those failures will be a real driving force this year. It certainly has ignited a fire in his belly.

"That hunger is still there. That desire to win things is still there and I don't think that will ever leave me. The way things have gone in pre-season it's just getting more and more exciting with the plan Tiernan has in place for us.

"It's always possible [to win the title]. I said it a month or so ago about having that feeling in my belly about wanting to win things and that's not changed. I'm just raring to go like the other boys."

With all the easily accessible stats on players and teams available for opposition teams, O'Reilly doesn't believe Derry will be an unknown quantity but perhaps the Candy Stripes may have a few surprises up their sleeves going into that visit to the home of the champions.

"These days it's hard to hide things. There's a lot of stats out there and everyone is going to know the players. We have a lot of big name players in our squad now and everyone will know a lot about us. Don't get me wrong, there will be a fair few surprises for everyone to see as well. We just have to wait until the start of the season to show it."

O'Reilly's been impressed with the new signings and given the strength in depth in the squad now, he believes Derry are well equipped to launch another title offensive.

"Through the years you can see, [Shamrock] Rovers for example have always had a big squad with a lot of quality players and that's what Tiernan's getting in place right now.

"Our squad has a lot of quality players in different areas and God forbid if someone was to get injured, we have someone just as good to fill in their place.

"All the boys who have come in look extremely sharp. There's not one person I would pick out. Everyone who has come in has a lot of quality in their own game and they're great additions to the squad."