Manager Ruaidhrí Higgins insists his Derry City squad continues to progress and that they’ve come a long way in a short space of time.
The Limavady man, who replaced Declan Devine as City boss in 2021, stands firm in his belief that while this year it may be out of their reach, the Brandywell side are still on track to claim their first Premier Division title in over two decades.
Higgins knows that his side have had numerous chances this season to close the gap on leaders Shamrock Rovers, but with only three games remaining they now sit four points behind The Hoops, with Stephen Bradley’s out-fit also having a game in hand, so their title hopes are all but over.
“It has been a strange year and I think you can look back on loads of games but it’s important not to lose sight of how far we’ve come as well,” he stated.
“Obviously we’re a few years into this and if you look at (Shamrock) Rovers when they were chasing down Dundalk, the won the league in their fourth season together, Cork when they too were chasing down Dundalk likewise fourth season, so things just don’t happen overnight, there’s no God given right to go and win league titles
“We’re getting more experience, I feel we’re improving and we just need a wee bit of X Factor at times when we’re dominating games to go and put them away, but I feel we’ve come a long way in a few years but the next step is to become winners.
“Listen, it looks unlikely this year, it’s not mathematically impossible but it looks out of reach. I truly believe that we aren’t far away. If we keep going then more chances will come.”
The 38-year-old was bitterly disappointed after their scoreless draw at Drogheda United on Friday evening and he conceded that his side showed a lack of intensity and drive in the first half at Weavers Park.
“I think in the first 45 minutes we never showed any intensity or drive in our play to go and open the door,” he explained.
“We kept the ball and looked nice at times but you have to be more ruthless and try to take the game away from Drogheda and we didn’t do that.
“It was a poor first half showing from our point of view and you can’t give up 45 minutes of football in this league, because it gives the opposition something to hang onto and that’s what Drogheda did.
“In the second half we were more like ourselves, we created more chances, we should have won the game and we should have been more clinical, but it has been one too many times this season where when we’ve had dominant periods in games, we haven’t been able to put the game away.
“At Drogheda we had four or five good chances in the second half and we have to put one of them away, but you get nothing in football for creating chances and not putting them away.”
The stalemate may mean their title charge is over, so finishing second is now the Candy Stripes full focus in their remaining matches, starting with Shelbourne in a few weeks time.
“We don’t have a game now for a couple of weeks and we have to get over the Drogheda result and make sure that we don’t leave 45 minutes of football behind us again and prepare for Shelbourne,” added the Derry gaffer.
“There’s still loads to play for and as I said we’ve a fortnight now to get our heads ready for Shelbourne, who have had an absolutely fantastic season and we’ll get ourselves ready for that.”
