Time for Derry City players to show character - says Declan Devine

The City boss claims his players were ‘hurting’ after a lacklustre scoreless draw against Finn Harps in Ballybofey on Sunday but says there’s no point feeling sorry for themselves as they enter the league run-in.

Devine, who turned 47 this week, wasn’t in the mood for birthday celebrations after a dismal display at Finn Park and he’s called for consistency and a show of ‘character’ going into the final eight games.

“There’s nobody here at this moment in time looking at anything else but the blatant truth,” he declared, “And the blatant truth is we’ve been inconsistent. We haven’t performed to the levels we’re capable of.

“There’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to make sure we step up to the plate and show character.

"We’ve got to show a hunger and show we’re better than our previous performance.

“There’s no doubt the players are looking for this game to come as quickly as possible.

“We’ve had reasonably decent performances in fits and starts. It’s about getting continuity and an inner belief in the players that they do deserve to be here and are Derry City players.

“I’ve backed them from the start and will continue to back them.

“All I want to see is the endeavour, commitment and desire and if I see what I see on a daily basis in training transmitted into the games then I’ve no doubt we can finish the season strongly.

“The most important thing for me now is this game, getting a performance and a result.

“It’s time for character. It’s time to self reflect but also time to perform. We have to get the finger out and perform.”

Devine hasn’t shied away from criticism after recent displays but he’s desperate for a positive response against the Saints.

“I’ve been very vocal about our performance. I have to look at myself. I picked the team to go out there. I selected the tactics but we didn’t perform.

“We looked for a response this week on a daily basis. The training has been excellent, the appetite of the players has been excellent. They’re hurting as well. Nobody went out at Finn Park to perform in the manner we did.”

While he admitted Sunday’s performance wasn’t acceptable, he preferred to focus on the positives as the Candy Stripes looked a lot more solid defensively.

“We’ve lost one out of five in the league. It’s not exactly what we want but there’s positives in there as well.

“We were very flat after the European game and went down to Drogheda in a very difficult game and we got the result.

“Against Cork at the Brandywell we were excellent and we were very unfortunate to lose against Shamrock Rovers. We were very good down at Pats.

“So there are a lot of pluses but there are also things we know we can improve on.

“It’s a case of treating this game on its merits. We have to perform on Friday night and make sure we don’t come off the pitch with any regrets.”