Football back on Friday at the Brandywell Stadium without fans
The game will of course be played in an empty stadium, testament to these continued strange times, however Derry boss Declan Devine has been busier than most during lockdown.
Jamie McDonagh and Tim Nilsen have left the club while Adam Liddle and Danny Lupano’s loan deals expired at the end of June.
Devine though has brought in some real quality replacements in midfielders Adam Hammill, Joe Thomson and Jake Dunwoody along with strikers James Akintunde and Ibrahim Meite.
He did miss out on re-signing last year’s top goalscorer Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe, the Londoner having opted to make the switch to the Bit o’ Red, although quarantine regulations mean it’s unlikely that Junior will face his former team-mates this week.
With only 14 league matches now left in the campaign, the City manager insists every game is important to every club.
“There will be no dead rubbers from here on that’s for sure.
“This league is competitive enough as it is with just ten teams, but everybody will look to be on the front foot straight away as there won’t be much time to make up any lost ground.”
“I’m delighted with the business we’ve done in this window and I think our supporters will be excited to see these lads play.
“Not having our fans in the stadium is a big blow; everybody knows what this place is like when it’s rocking, but the players are aware that thanks to the streaming service, the people that they represent will be backing them from their homes and we will be mindful of that.”
As well as the new signings Derry will have Darren Cole, arguably their player of the year in 2019, back in the squad after his ACL injury last year and that is a huge boost to the club.
Sligo were pointless before the break but had availability problems of their own which now look to be under control and this could have all the makings of a decent game.
Kick off is at 5.45pm and the game will be available on the watchloi.ie streaming service.
Friday’s game will be the first one to be broadcast on the new SSE Airtricity League streaming service, WATCHLOI.
In Ireland, the service will broadcast all league and FAI Cup games apart from those shown by eirSport.
A season pass costs just €55 (around a euro per game) although DCFC season ticket holders have been granted pass codes to the service.
For more information on the new service, click here.
You can sign up now at watchloi.ie.
Outside of Ireland, the pass costs €69 since it includes more games, a great option for football fans further afield.
Individual game passes can be bought for €5.
Next up for City is an away match on Monday, August 3 at St Pat’s with kick off at 7.45 pm.
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