Pat Hoban hungry to prove doubters wrong by helping fire Derry City to league title glory

The 32 year-old hitman was finally unveiled as a City player at a press conference at Brandywell on Wednesday afternoon following prolonged negotiations between his former club Dundalk and the Candy Stripes who finally settled on a €30,000 transfer fee plus add-ons dependant on Derry's success domestically and in Europe over the next two years.

It's certainly a statement signing and potentially a shrewd investment by Ruaidhri Higgins who bemoaned a lack of goals last season which ultimately proved Derry's downfall in their challenge to topple four-in-a-row champions, Shamrock Rovers.

Hoban knows how to win trophies having won three league titles, two FAI Cups, two EA Sports Cups, two President's Cup and one Unite the Union Championship Cup during his eight seasons at Oriel Park where he became the club's record goalscorer with an incredible 150 goal tally in 296 appearances!

Higgins reckons he's been 'the top striker in the country for a long time' but the man from Loughrea, Co. Galway hasn't arrived to rest on his laurels and believes he has to prove himself all over again on Foyleside.

"Definitely, especially coming to a new club as well, I just feel it kind of starts all over again," said the former Oxford United and Mansfield Town striker. "I feel like I've won nothing to be honest with you and I've done nothing. I think that's the right mindset to have coming in here.

"I always feel I have something to prove," added Hoban. "You always have someone doubting me out there. I obviously have my doubters still and want to prove everyone wrong. Coming up here there's always something to prove. Of course there is.

"I'm coming up here to try and win a league not to just dwindle out my career. I want to come up here and be successful, try and win a league and try and win trophies. That's what I'm here for," he insisted.

"You always have doubters in the game. I see a lot of stuff and it is what it is but I always feel like I have a point to prove but that's how I get the best out of myself and that's how I've always been."Motivation has clearly never been a problem for Hoban, who netted 14 Premier Division goals last term in an under-performing Dundalk side. However, given his rather unceremonious departure from the Lilywhites who told him he was free to leave despite having one year left on his contract, there's clearly a renewed hunger to prove his worth at Derry.

He wants to 'get back on top of the mountain' and create more history by helping deliver a first league title to Brandywell since 1997.

"Things happen in football and I just want to leave it at that," he said when asked about his dramatic departure from the club he joined from Mervue United back in 2013 when Stephen Kenny plucked him from his local side.

Hoban couldn't sleep in his Derry hotel room the night before his big unveiling at Brandywell as he prepared to put to bed what became a close season 'saga' which hit a few speed bumps over the course of the past month.

The striker had made it clear Derry was the place he wanted to go and admitted there was never any danger of staying at Dundalk once they had made their position clear at the end of last season.

"There was no point in me staying. That's all I'm going to say really. There was no point at all where I was going to be staying at Oriel Park. I was told what I was told 11 weeks ago and that was it so I'm a Derry City player now and that's all that my focus is on.

"There's a lot of sacrifices in moving here because I've got a daughter in Galway and I had to take all that into consideration too but I only have one career and I want to get back on top of the mountain and feel this is the right place to go.

"It's dragged on for a long time and obviously what happened at my previous club has happened. As a footballer sometimes a new challenge is what you need and I feel that's what I need. I'm really excited to get going and that feeling of being fully match fit and playing games of football. I'm excited to get going and can't wait.

"I’m just happy to be here and to get this done. Once I was told yesterday [Tuesday] that it was going to be done, I was just delighted. The whole kind of, I suppose, saga, is over now, and my full concentration now is to help Derry win a league. I’m here to win trophies and nothing else."

As Derry City's new No. 9 Hoban is prepared to shoulder the burden of scoring the goals which could bring silverware to the club this season. He's no shrinking violet and claims he 'thrives' on the responsibility which comes with the role and the weight of expectation.

"The top goalscorer here last year only scored eight goals and obviously there's now going to be pressure on me to score goals. Pressure has always been a part of football. I've had that at my previous club as well and you just have to take that on your shoulders and roll with the punches.

"I thrive on it. There's pressure playing for Dundalk as well, to score goals and win titles there's always pressure. It's something I feed off and with the group of quality players already here I think we can go places but we have to earn it."

His signing was greeted with great fanfare on social media among Derry fans but the striker, who netted 12 goals past the Candy Stripes - 11 for Dundalk and one for Mervue - knows it might take some time to win them all over.

"I'm not a fan favourite in many places," he smiled. "But I'll do anything once I cross the white line, a different element in me comes out and I just want to win games of football and I'll be no different here."

"I had a good time playing against Derry over the years, not so much I’d say last year, but now I’m a Derry City football player and there’s nothing weird about it. This is football and I’m here to win football matches and help win a league and I’m just absolutely delighted to be here.

"I have a lot of friends here already which will make everything easier too. I’ve played with the gaffer and I’m just delighted he brought me here so I can go and prove myself all over again."

He's expected to make a smooth transition into the City dressing room given he's played with six of the current squad at Dundalk over recent years including Daniel Kelly who made the switch from Oriel Park several weeks before him.

"Coming to a new club can always be a bit daunting and there’s always a settling in period which has to happen, but I can see myself settling in quite quickly here. I've played with six or seven of the other boys. I know them all, so I’m looking forward to getting going now.

"What's been built here for the last two years has been phenomenal, you can tell with the way they played in Europe last year and in the league as well. Look, they have a lot of quality here and I'm just delighted the gaffer has added me to the mix as well.

"Doing it [winning title] with a different group, only a couple of players have achieved that and I want to be added onto that list. I want to get back on top of the mountain and win the league and with the players we have here we have a great chance to do that."