Togetherness is key to glory - states Derry City's Darren Cole

The Scottish centre-back, who is looking forward to his fifth season with the Candy Stripes, is hoping the club can put last year’s poor campaign behind them and having a good ‘dressing room’ is pivotal in his view.

“I have got a good feeling about this year,” insisted Cole, “Last year was poor from us but almost every team in the league had Covid 19 problems with players missing and coming back into teams, not being able to travel and stuff like that. At one stage the season itself all up in the air, so I think everybody did find it hard last season.

“From our point of view that bond wasn’t there last year compared to other seasons and that was maybe because of the Covid as well. So while at the minute we don’t know how the Covid situation will play out, hopefully everything goes to plan, everyone gets on and there’s a bond amongst the squad.

“The whole thing with football is that if you don’t have that bond in the changing room and you haven’t got a connection with the staff, then you are going to struggle. I think this year that’s what we need.

“We need the boys to be tight. We need to be tight with the staff. We were always tight with the staff but last year it was a bit different because of Covid in terms of not being able to just mingle with the staff in the gym or where the pool table and darts board is. Stuff like that contributes hugely to team spirit, so hopefully when can get in this year we’ll start having banter with all the players and staff.”

Cole, who was never 100 per cent fit last season after recovering from a serious ACL injury sustained during a training session at Waterford last August, hopes to have an injury free 2021.

“I’m happy the deal is sorted and obviously with the injury I had, last season meant I was trying to recover from that and then play a few games. I played as many as I could but I know myself I never played to my full potential,” he explains.

“I was lucky if I trained once a week throughout last season after coming back so hats off to Derry for offering me another contract. They obviously believe in me so hopefully I can repay them for the faith they have shown in me.

“I have been working hard since the end of the season so hopefully I can show everyone what I have done during the close season and all the work I have done.

“I know the league and I know myself if I’m fully fit, I’m a good asset to the team. Obviously last year was different in terms of me being in and out of the team, but this year I’m looking to stay injury free, play as many games as I can and hopefully we can push up that table.

“We start pre-season in around three weeks. We are training at home at the minute. We have an app there which we have to follow so that’s us really back into the nitty gritty now ahead of hopefully meeting up. We are getting fit, doing our runs three or four times a week and doing some gym work in the house.

“Hopefully come the start of our pre-season training we’ll all be right at it.”

The 29-year-old acknowledges it’s going to be tough to get close to Dundalk and champions, Shamrock Rovers, but he believes securing European football for the 2021/22 season has to be Derry’s target.

“Every year qualifying for Europe is your target. Yes, everyone would love to win the league, but you look at Dundalk and especially (Shamrock) Rovers, teams like that are bringing in players that we would love to have and they will be strong every year. From our point of view, if we can get fighting for that European spot, which we did under Decky and Kenny (Shiels), that’s a start,” said Cole.

“To be honest the one thing that would help us no end is getting fans back into the Brandywell and into games because if the players have fans there, it’s the biggest lift ever and I’m sure it’s the same for the fans when they are supporting their team from home.

“We all know last year wasn’t great but I’m hoping this year, as a team, we can push for third or fourth and maybe get to a final and hopefully win a cup, I feel we definitely have that in us.

“The players who are here now are good players but, as I said, we just need to bond a bit more and hopefully we’ll be able to sign a few more players to strengthen the squad so we can take that extra step.”

Last year Cole became a father after his partner Orlaith gave birth to daughter, Cría, and as the coronavirus pandemic is still in everyone’s thoughts he feels following the guidelines and staying at home is a perfect idea.

“Now the coronavirus is just the norm for everyone but obviously with a child you have to be extra careful,” he said, “We aren’t going anywhere we don’t have to but it’s crucial we all follow the guidelines so we can get through it as quickly as possible.”