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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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Derry City begin their defence of the FAI Cup today.
FAI Cup First Round
Derry City vs. Athlone
Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium
Today, 5pm
Ruaidhri Higgins insists that Derry City will respect Athlone as the club begins the defence of the FAI Cup against First Division opponents this evening.
Derry City won the FAI Cup for the sixth time with a 4-0 win over Shelbourne at the Aviva Stadium back in November, and Higgins wants the club to retain the trophy for the first time in the club's League of Ireland history. The Candystripes are big favourites with a home draw against a lower division opponent, but Higgins is wary of the threat posed by Athlone.
"It has been my job since Thursday night to get the boys refocused and prepare the team for Sunday," he said. "We've watched Athlone and they've a couple of really good attacking players, who are really highly rated.
"I don't think we've ever disrespected a team and we will never do that going forward, so we need to approach the game properly, professionally and try to get into the next round."
The Candystripes have had little time to rest following Thursday night's Europa Conference League victory over HB Torshavn and the manager admits there will be changes to his team to keep things fresh.
"Everyone seems in decent health after Thursday night, but we'll freshen the team up to a certain extent on Sunday," he insisted. "We won't be making dramatic changes, but we'll freshen things up as I feel as we're coming into a crucial part of the season and we'll need everybody.
"We want to get ourselves into the next round of the FAI Cup. Thursday night was a big night for the club, but we moved on quickly.
"It's good that the majority of our squad is fit and healthy at the minute, bar the two long term injuries (Ciaron Harkin and Colm Whelan), but as I said we're coming into a vital part of the season.
"With Europe, the FAI Cup and the league, there's so much to look forward to and so much to be excited about and we'll need all of our squad to be ready when called upon."
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