There's no pity party at Derry City: insists Joe Thomson

Going into tonight’s bottom of the table clash with surprise strugglers Dundalk at Brandywell, the former Celtic man insists the mood in the Derry camp has been positive and he believes both clubs occupy ‘false positions’.

“I have to say the atmosphere has been pretty good,” said the Scotsman “It’s the first time personally I’ve been in a situation like this when we’ve gone on a run of five games without a winning a game. We’re not feeling sorry for ourselves.

“We know we’ve been better than the results have shown in a couple of games, especially against Waterford. We could’ve won that by two or three we were so dominant and had good control about us that night.

“The St Pat’s game was an even game and we had the better chances before we shot ourselves in the foot. It seems to be silly mistakes we’re making and if we can eradicate them, we will be in a good place.

“Even though we got our first point of the season on Friday we’re disappointed and know these are the games we should be winning. We need to pick ourselves up as we’ve got a big game against Dundalk. There’s a lot to play for.

“There’s been no feeling down. We are where we are. We all think we deserve to be higher but we’re not. We’ve still got 31 games left so there’s no reason to panic.”

It’s Derry’s third league fixture in the space of seven days and with on-loan playmaker Will Patching unable to play against his parent club, Thomson expects changes to be made from the team which drew 1-1 against Drogheda United.

Of course he started that game on the bench and he’s hoping he’s done enough to warrant his third start of the season.

“We’ve rotated the team. Myself and Jackie (Ciaron Harkin) put in a good shift against St Pat’s. Obviously we did a lot of running without the ball which people probably don’t see, covering space. The manager decided to rotate the team and it played alright the other night (against Rovers) so he kept with the same team and you’ve got to accept that.

“The lads who aren’t playing are working hard to put pressure on the ones that are and maybe there will be a few changes on Tuesday because obviously three games in the space of a week is a lot.

“It’s disappointing for Will (Patching) but whoever gets the nod to play will go in and take their chance. There’s a few of the lads who will be feeling it, it’s a big ask to play three games in a week so we’ll see what happens. Decky has his decisions to make.”

Thomson was warming up on the sidelines when Drogheda scored against the run of play on Friday and he felt Derry deserved more from the game.

“They played with a high line in the second half so maybe the space wasn’t there as much as it was in the first half. I think with the chances we had we should’ve been in a better position than we were at half-time. But when things are going against you that seems to be the way it is.

“They had one attack and were in our box once and they scored. It was a bit scrappy but, as I said, when things are going against you the ball just seems to fall for them and doesn’t for us. That’s just the way it is sometimes.”