Ruaidhri Higgins praises Derry City's 'brilliant' player of month nominee Will Patching

And it’s not just because five of his six league goals this season arrived in the last five matches, including two braces and two stunning lobs against UCD.

His stellar attacking performances have caught the eye but for his manager, Ruaidhri Higgins there’s a lot more to his game that goes under the radar.

As the Candy Stripes look to keep their title hopes on track in Drogheda this weekend, Higgins is hoping Patching can continue his rich vein of form at the venue.

“It’s been a good ground for him down there as well,” said Higgins. “He enjoys playing down there. He has been in brilliant form since the summer.

"It has been well-documented that he was coming under a lot of pressure previous to that.

"It just shows you that players are human, they go through good form and poor form at times, and it is important that when people are having rough patches, you’re not too hard on them and you stick with them and believe in them.

“He has been real evidence of that. If you ask any of Will’s teammates and the staff, it mightn’t be that evident to see unless you’re analysing or studying the game, defensively he has been one of the better players since the summer.

"Everything that you look at will show you that; he has set our press, he’s very fit, he’s covering serious distances, and people won’t see that.

"They’ll see this laidback style. But believe me, he has been absolutely brilliant since the summer onwards in terms of his defensive work.”

"And when he’s like that and when he’s doing what he’s doing in possession, then he’s got the potential to kick on again, no doubt.

“Also, when I say he was playing through an injury, that’s not bullshit, and that’s not me sticking up or defending him.

"He was playing through an injury because we had (Cameron) Dummigan out, we had (Patrick) McEleney out, Adam O’Reilly had a hamstring injury during that period, and Will, out of the four, was the one who had to grit his teeth.

"But we got that sorted from the summer onwards. When he’s happy and enjoying his football, he’s a fantastic player and I’m delighted for him because he’s a good lad as well.

"He's in good form as well and hopefully that continues over the last four games.”

Patching has been nominated for the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month award alongside Lee Grace (Shamrock Rovers), Ruairi Keating (Cork City), Tommy Lonergan (St Patrick's Athletic), Dayle Rooney (Drogheda United) and Stephen Walsh (Galway United).