Patrick McEleney speaks about his 'lonely' road to recovery and returning for Derry City's double hunt

​The midfielder experienced mixed emotions as he returned to the pitch as a late substitute in Derry’s damaging 1-0 loss to Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday night- his first appearance since that horrendous injury against Waterford at Brandywell.

And while Derry surrendered top spot to Shelbourne and fell three points behind the leaders with seven games to go, McEleney - who has won multiple league titles with Dundalk - predicts there will be plenty of plot twists to come.

He certainly hasn't given up hope of battling for a league and cup 'double' and hopes he can start contributing on the pitch once again following a difficult period on the sidelines.

"It was a long three months," said McEleney. "Obviously when I hurt it I couldn't really see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was told it was bad but I'm here 12 weeks later which is all that matters.

"It wasn't a good time for me to be honest. It was tough and it was a lonely time but I'm here now and that's all I’m thinking about is trying to produce for the team.

“It was rough but I'm here now and we're still in the hunt in my eyes. I know that was obviously a setback [against Galway] but trust me when I say it, there will be ups and downs to come.

"There's a long way to go yet and I'm sure Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne would tell you the exact same thing. There's lots to play.

"We have to play each other, they have to play each other. It's a setback, there's no doubt but still lots of points to play for."

Ruaidhri Higgins stressed the important role McEleney has played in the dressing room despite his injury but the Shantallow man is desperate to make a big impact in the final matches of the campaign.

"It's not the same when you're not playing especially after wins. You feel as if you're not really contributing but I just do my best as captain off the field and try to give the best advice I can to the players. It's been a hard 12 weeks but I'm here now.

"It's hard to sum up how it feels getting back playing because it's such a disappointing result for us but in my eyes and from experience I think there's still lots to play for.

“I was just on the pitch and they get a free-kick and score. We piled the pressure on a wee bit and had a couple of half chances but I think we were a bit reactive to the situation.

"If we had of been proactive we could've went after the game a bit more. That's in hindsight obviously.”

It was an unfortunate mistake from both Danny Mullen and Brian Maher which led to the winning goal but McEleney heaped praise on Derry’s defence and reckons the attacking players should be taking more risks.

“Our back four and keeper, whoever has been in, have been tremendous over the last number of weeks.

"Now it’s up to us as midfielders and attacking players to start producing moments for us to kick on because they have been absolutely brilliant.”