Ruaidhri Higgins wants another Derry City away day success

Since Higgins’ appointment last month, the Brandywell men have defeated Sligo Rovers, Bohemians and Waterford and drawn at champions Shamrock Rovers. However, it was that win over Liam Buckley’s side which started the ball rolling, a victory that arrived when the Bit O’Red were in great form.

In fact, Sligo were unbeaten in the league until the Candy Stripes rolled into town and it’s a similar case against Tim Clancy’s on-song side this evening, The Drogs having won their last four games in a row while scoring freely in all those matches.

“Sligo were the in-form team in the league when we went to the Showgrounds and we managed to win the game so we go to Drogheda with really good spirit, momentum and our plan is to go to Drogheda and win the game,” explained the Derry manager, “Whether that materialise or not is a different story but we want to go there and put demands on ourselves and each other to pick up three points.

“Drogheda are a very good team and we have to respect that. They are six points off the top of the league and they are in the European spot at present. They’ll be delighted with what they are doing down there at the minute but we know, on any given day, that if we are at it then we are a match for anyone.

“When you look at the top three teams, Sligo Rovers, Shamrock Rovers and St Pat’s, we are slightly disappointed that we have only won one and drawn the other two against them. We felt that we should at least have won two out of those three games so I think the players deserve massive credit because they now believe that they can go and beat those top teams.

“Drogheda are one of those top teams in the country at this minute in time, they are the form team, but we believe that we can go there and get a good result.”

The Limavady man, who is now a month in the Brandywell manager’s hot-seat, confirmed that defender Daniel Lafferty, who limped out of during Monday night’s game against St Patrick’s Athletic, has recovered but Marc Walsh will not return until after the mid-season break.

“Danny is fine and it’s the exact the same personnel as was available on Monday night that are available for Drogheda. Marc Walsh will be ready for us after the break,” he confirmed.

“I’m enjoying it. It’s a pleasure to work with the players and staff every day. They have all got a really impressive work ethic which is important to succeed and I’m really enjoying it.

“I’m over a month into the job now so I’m well settled in but the hard work continues. To be successful in this game I think you have to work really hard and that’s what as staff and players we are going to do.”