STRIKER Pat Hoban believes Derry City need to start getting on a consistent run.
The club’s leading marksman, who netted his eighth goal of the season in Monday night’s victory over St Patrick’s Athletic, insists consistency is key to any successful side and he’s hoping for another three points at Waterford tomorrow night.
Hoban states that the Candystripes just need to try and get a run going.
“A million percent,” he insisted. “It’s all about consistency and getting a run going. And all of a sudden, that would breed confidence and, you know, a winning mentality as well.
“I don’t really like going back into the past, but winning runs build like a flow. You’re just bouncing into games. And, you know, it feels like you’re just winning games of football, you know, without really doing too much. You nearly have it won before you go out.
“It felt like that with Dundalk, but, you know, times have changed. I think the league is really, really strong this year. And you can see that with the results.
“Shels lost to Galway last week, 1-0. They drew tonight (Monday) with Shamrock Rovers, 0-0. So, like, you know, the games are, it’s kind of nearly on the day now.
“But, yeah, we definitely need to, you know, get a good consistent run going together.
“You can see with the league table, it’s a bit all over the place too as everyone’s beating everyone. Everyone’s dropping points to everyone.
“I think I said this at the start of the season, if you’re 1 per cent off at all, you’re either going to lose a game or draw a game in the League of Ireland. And especially this year, a lot of teams have a lot of quality and they can hurt you. So, if you’re off at 1%, you’re in trouble.”
The Galway native also wants the Derry dressing room to ‘block out the noise’ and just stay focused on their own job.
“I didn’t have the best of games tonight. And you can hear the moans and groans, but if you don’t take that on the chin on a football pitch, you’re in trouble,” admitted City’s top scorer.
“I’ve been there, done it, heard plenty of noise before. But, you know, at the end of the day, it’s about winning football matches. And, you know, if a game’s not going your way in terms of on the ball, the least you can do is work hard and win your battles.”
Hoban linked up well at times with Daniel Mullen in City’s victory over the Saints and he concedes for the majority of his career he hasn’t had a partner in crime up front with him.
“Throughout my career, I probably haven’t played with another striker, for various reasons of style of play and patterns of play and stuff like that. And, you know, you can see the benefits of it tonight,” explained the 32-year-old.
“Danny got two goals, he played excellent tonight and he was also excellent against Shamrock Rovers too. So, you know, he deserves his spot in the team and, you know, thankfully I’m able to slot in there beside him.
“Two up top it’s obviously a bit different out of possession, as you probably could tell against St Pat’s.
“But look, at the end of the day, you know, I scored one today and Danny got two. So, you know, results wise and winning a game of football, goals is what matters and that’s what mattered on Monday night.”
