Derry’s away form, as in previous years, appears more solid than their home form, though they have been held to a large number of draws on the road.
City travel to Oriel Park this evening (kick off 7.45 pm), as new Dundalk boss Jon Daly takes his first game on home turf.
Last weekend saw an inauspicious start as the league’s bottom team went down tamely in Galway.
Dundalk, for all the upheaval, have kept a whopping six straight clean sheets at home since shipping five goals on a nightmare evening against Sligo.
Derry City head for Oriel Park smarting from the failure to grab maximum points from their home game against Sligo last weekend. Indeed, it took a late-ish goal from Will Patching to nab even a draw. The result nudged Shels’ lead at the top out to six.
For the visitors, Jordan McEneff remains out, with Sam Todd also ruled absent due to a heel injury. Striker Colm Whelan, however, could be nearing a return after suffering his second serious knee injury last season.
Derry boss Ruaidhrí Higgins was particularly taken by the hosts’ clean sheet record and warned that they could be buoyed by Daly’s arrival as manager, the Dubliner having guided Pat’s to FAI Cup success last November.
“You look at their league position and might think they’re struggling, and then you look at the stats and see a team that hasn’t conceded a single goal in their last six home games.
“They have really tightened up at the back and there is quality both in midfield and attack with players in there who have league winners’ medals.
“I think Jon Daly is a great appointment for them and I’ll wish him every success at about 10 o’clock on Friday night.
“Their fans will get right behind them and they’ll hope to get that bounce that comes with a new manager, so we’ll have to be ready to deal with that.”
It’s fair to say that Derry’s own form has been in and out this season but with the players returning from injury all getting valuable minutes under their belts in recent weeks, the hope is that a run of results might not be far away.
There was also some good news for City fans in the manager’s weekly press conference as he hinted that Colm Whelan’s return to the side isn’t too far away.
“We’ll be operating off pretty much the same squad as the Sligo game for Friday night, but Colm has been cleared to start full contact training now after a long and frustrating time out.
“Obviously he’ll be given the time now to build himself up physically and to be able to trust the knee, but he is working really hard and the signs are good so far.
“Jordan McEneff remains out with a foot injury and Sam Todd will miss the game having damaged his heel at the weekend, but other than that we’re in good shape.
“We know how good this squad is when everyone is fit and while we’re well aware how difficult it will be, we’re looking forward to the match.”
Dundalk are aiming to beat their own home clean sheet record this evening. Previously, they’ve kept six home clean sheets on the spin in 1991 and 2015 – both seasons where they went on to win the title.
Tonight, they can beat the record and they’re currently bottom.
Jon Daly took the team for his first game in Galway last Friday a mere four hours after arriving off the plane from Scotland. He’s since added Graham Kelly – who he worked with at Pat’s – and goalkeeping coach Peter Cherry to his management team.
“The home form has been very good,” says Daly. “Defensively solid. It’s something we’d like to maintain. I’m talking about playing attacking football and it’s built on the foundations of having a strong defence. The boys have defended very well.
“I genuinely feel, looking at the squad, we have some of the best players in the league in the building. It’s just trying to get that self-belief back into them.
“(Derry) are definitely title contenders. They’re a fantastic outfit, Ruaidhrí Higgins is a top manager.
“They have, in the armoury, some of the best attacking players in the league. The likes of (Will) Patching and (Michael) Duffy, (Patrick) McEleney when he’s fit. They’re starting to get their key players back.
“We’re going to have to be defensively switched on if we’re going to break that record.”
John Mountney, Robbie Benson, Robbie Mahon, Koen Oostenbrink and Dara Keane are all missing for the hosts.
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