Paddy McLaughlin to begin new role at Turner's Cross tomorrow night

Paddy McLaughlin is expected to be in the dug-out at Turner’s Cross tomorrow night to begin his role as Derry City’s newest number two.

The former City defender left his role as Cliftonville manager earlier this week after four and a half years at Solitude, and while an official announcement is still forthcoming, he is expected to be unveiled as Alan Reynolds’ replacement before kick-off tomorrow night.

It will be very much a return home for McLaughlin, who made 214 appearances for the Candystripes between 1997 and 2005, winning the FAI Cup in 2002, and scoring 5 goals in total. Ruaidhri Higgins would not be drawn on the speculation however until an official announcement has been made by the club.

“A number two has to complement your own skillset,” he said. “Everyone has different strengths, everyone has different weaknesses, and I always try and bring in someone who is strong in certain aspects. That’s the way I look at it because if you bring in someone who is too similar to you, it doesn’t work.”

Higgins worked without a number two in his first season, and he admitted that it was a situation he did not want repeated this time around.

“It wears you down,” he explained. “When you have someone in, it allows you to be a manager and oversee things. You’ve got more time to prepare for what you need to do. It’s crucial, that you have the right person by your side and sometimes results and life isn’t straightforward, and that’s why it’s important that you have someone.

“We have brilliant staff here, but sometimes you need someone by your side who you can turn to and who you can bounce things off, in professional and personnel life.”

McLaughlin’s impending arrival will begin a fresh chapter for Derry City in a season which has already had its challenges both on and off the pitch.

“I hope so,” Higgins agreed. “We lost two games in four days which disappointed everybody, players, staff, supporters, everybody. You never go through a season with plain sailing or without a bit of adversity. I think you saw on Sunday the commitment of the players, which for me has never been in question.

“I’m very, very confident. We still have a few key players out but we have people coming back and that gives the group a lift. I’m really, really confident in this group of players that we’ll kick on and go strength to strength.”

Derry City’s away record under Higgins has been excellent, with the manager looking for his 22nd win in what will be his 40th game away from the Brandywell. However, this will be his first game at Turner’s Cross in a managerial capacity.

“It’s a tough game, a really tough game,” he said. “They are physically strong and athletic and they put balls into the box from throw-ins, from free-kicks, no matter where it is, corners. They load the box and they have a big physical presence and they have got some talented footballers as well. They went and beat Dundalk recently and they were quite comfortable in the game. We know Turner’s Cross is a proper football venue and I think our players will relish that as well. It’s to be enjoyed and hopefully we can come up that road after a long journey with three vital points in the bag.”

Injury update

Patrick McEleney is expected to miss tomorrow night’s game with the club still missing some of its most significant players eleven games in.

“Patrick has an issue at the minute and we have to be very mindful and very careful,” Higgins explained. “Ryan Graydon took a knock down in Dundalk, as did Jamie McGonigle. It wasn’t really out there, but Cian Kavanagh has been dealing with a back injury since pre-season and we had to actually take him off his feet for a few weeks and he hasn’t done loads of training until the last week or two. We have these things to deal with but there are other high quality players fit and available and we’ll be going onto the pitch on Friday with a really good team and we’ll go and try and win the game.”