Ruaidhri Higgins excited for another Friday night under lights at Brandywell

Michael Duffy (broken leg), Ciaron Harkin (ACL) and Patrick McEleney (knock) are missing from action for the visit of the Inchicore outfit while ex-Saints striker Matty Smith (illness) and Joe Thomson will be assessed before kick-off.

Derry will be hoping to extend their unbeaten start to the season to six games and while Higgins believes his squad is limited in numbers, he’s confident those available are capable of clinching a statement victory against one of the teams expected to rival Shamrock Rovers for the title.

“It’s big injuries to key personnel,” said Higgins. “We don’t have a massive squad. I think people can see that when we have a few missing. We’ve got real versatility though. We haven’t had the luxury of having Mattie Smith really. He came on against Shels but I think the players who have been involved in all the games have been absolutely brilliant.

“I know people are talking about all our new signings but the players who were here last year have been absolutely outstanding this season so far.

“If you look at the team at the moment, there’s a massive core of those players who were here last season. They’ve continued their good form. We are missing top end players but the group that has been available to us have been brilliant.

“Patrick is still carrying a knock,” he confirmed. “Joe, we’ll give him until the last minute before making a call. Mattie Smith is still sick but we’ll see how he feels in the morning.

“Evan McLaughlin is back. Michael and Ciaron are injured so we do have our fair quota of players unavailable but we have a good enough team to go and win the game.

“We’re on a good run. It’s only a start but if we can keep picking up points until we get to the point where we have a fully fit squad to pick from then I think we will be an outstanding team.

It’s just about keeping that momentum going and keep driving on and keep putting points on the board.”

Both teams come into the match on the back of three successive clean sheets with St Pat’s boasting a three match winning run which includes an impressive 1-0 win over Shamrock Rovers. However, Higgins isn’t expecting a defensive masterclass but rather an entertaining clash involving two teams with an array of attacking talent.

“They’re a very, very good team. You look at their front five, (Chris) Forrester, (Billy) King, (Darragh) Burns and the two Doyles (Eoin and Mark). Absolutely exceptional footballers and real attacking threat.

“We need to be prepared for that and meet the challenge head on because we know we have attacking players that can hurt any opposition. We know we can put teams away.

“We’ve a number of clean sheets now and are defending very well probably due to the fact we’re controlling games more as well.

“It’s been good but we know Pat’s pose a real test. If we get a clean sheet on Friday we know we’ll have earned it given the attacking players they have. I’d imagine it will be an open game and an entertaining game.”

It’s the second match at Brandywell under the lights on a Friday night and Higgins is hoping the home support will drive his team to victory.

“What I’ve noticed already is we’ve had two Monday night games at home and a Friday night game at home and I know what I’d prefer. Friday night signals the end of the working week for a lot of supporters.

“They might go and have a few beers before the game and there’s more of a weekend feel around the ground compared to a Monday night. I’m delighted this game is on a Friday night.

“Hopefully it’s another packed house and I would ask for the same noise as the Shamrock Rovers game. Speaking on behalf of the staff and players, we get so much energy off the crowd when they’re up and at it and we need that on Friday night.”

“There will be a number of players with outstanding individual quality on the pitch. It’s a game we’re excited about. It’s a game I think both teams will try to go and win so it should be interesting.”