MIDFIELDER Sadou Diallo is looking to make up for lost time as Derry City prepare to face St Patrick’s Athletic at Richmond Park tomorrow night.
The 24-year-old picked up a serious knee injury after a terrible tackle in a pre-season friendly against Finn Harps and only a few weeks ago he got his first taste of action this season, when he came off the bench against Shelbourne.
“Yeah it’s been a tough four months out,” he insisted.
“Going from last year whenever I was fit and playing to then obviously getting injured in pre-season, it has been quite tough for me, but I’m just glad to be back on the pitch now.
“I’m buzzing to be back and to be honest I’m not one to be in the physio room too much and that’s the last place I want to be, so as I said I’m just glad to be back in the team and contributing to our results.”
Diallo is keeping his fingers crossed his injury problems are behind him, especially as he admits he doesn’t like watching games from the stands.
“I’m one that kicks every ball,” he joked.
“It’s hard to watch, especially when you want the team to do well.
“But look, we’ve had some good games this year, though I have to admit I would rather be out on the pitch than sitting in the stands watching.
“Personally I just want to now stay injury-free, be fit and be available for every game. Collectively, hopefully the same things happens for all the squad, because we’ve had a lot of injuries throughout the squad.”
With mounting speculation that former Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny could be appointed Saints boss ahead of tomorrow evening’s contest, Diallo states that he and the City squad are only focusing on what they have to do at Inchicore.
The Guinea native also feels that having title winners Daniel Kelly and Pat Hoban joining Ruaidhrí Higgins’ squad this year has added a more determined dressing room.
“I think every game since the start of the season has been a big game, especially because there are a lot of teams going for the league this year,” he explained.
“So every game regardless of the stories or the back stories or what not, it’s going to be a big game.
“Hopefully we can continue to compete and stay up there. We’ve had a lot of injuries, but we’re still competing, but like I said there’s still other teams also up there, so it’s going to be a tough second half to the season to come.
“Both Daniel and Pat have won league titles and they’ve got a lot of experience of playing in the league, so we as a squad just have to learn from those types of players.
“I also feel that they’ve added a lot of their own game to our squad, which has been good.”
