Who plays? Ruaidhri Higgins' Derry City selection dilemma

​RUAIDHRI Higgins opted to bring in just two new faces for the new season and allowed four exit the Brandywell gates, however, those numbers don't add up when it comes to the manager’s selection dilemma.
By Simon Collins
Published 15th Feb 2024, 16:55 BST
Updated 16th Feb 2024, 09:18 BST
Derry City’s Adam O’Reilly is unlikely to feature against Drogheda while Ben Doherty and Danny Mullen will be chomping at the bit to play. Photo: George SweeneyDerry City’s Adam O’Reilly is unlikely to feature against Drogheda while Ben Doherty and Danny Mullen will be chomping at the bit to play. Photo: George Sweeney
Derry City’s Adam O’Reilly is unlikely to feature against Drogheda while Ben Doherty and Danny Mullen will be chomping at the bit to play. Photo: George Sweeney

​Indeed, the City boss faces a real selection headache this season with an abundance of talent in a squad which is the most competitive in recent memory following the additions of Pat Hoban and Daniel Kelly.

Paul McMullan and Daniel Kelly are ready for their first full seasons on Foyleside with the benefit of a full preseason this time providing plenty of options for Higgins going into tonight's clash with Drogheda.

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Sadou Diallo is missing for the next couple of months after his knee ligament surgery last week while Collie Whelan and Ciaron Harkin work their way back from their respective ACL injuries.

But how does Higgins assess the health of his squad going into the new season?

"We've had a few niggles throughout the pre-season. Adam O'Reilly hasn't played much at all. He's had a few niggles. Obviously Diallo is missing and Collie Whelan is still a while out. Ciaron Harkin is very close but will take time to build up. We have one or two niggles but particularly Adam O'Reilly who hasn't really had a run at it. By and large the squad is quite healthy and looking forward to getting going."

Higgins wasn't prepared to give away his starting line-up but he does have his mind made up on who will start against the Boynesiders.

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"Things can happen in the last day or two leading into the game but in my head I've a fair idea of what the team is going to be. Hopefully we can put in a good performance."

Injuries were a key reason for Derry's inconsitency at times last season and Higgins revealed there's been a few adjustments made this time around in terms of tackling injury prevention.

"We adjusted preseason. Preseason was definitely different. As a staff it's your job to analyse these things but there's no guarantees we won't pick up injuries again - it's football. But we got together to analyse where we went wrong as staff. There's no guarantees it won't happen again but we definitely adjusted preseason this year and went about it a slightly different way.

Related topics:Ruaidhri HigginsAdam O'ReillyBrandywell