Sadou Diallo set to celebrate a half century of games with Derry City

Sadou Diallo will reach a half century of appearances with Derry City should he feature in tomorrow’s game against Bohemians at Dalymount Park.

The midfielder, signed from Forest Green, has been an exceptional addition to Ruaidhri Higgins’ squad since joining the club last summer. Making his debut as a second half substitute against Finn Harps in Ballybofey, Diallo has been a regular in the City midfield ever since, and looks set to make his 50th appearance tomorrow.

“He has been excellent,” Higgins agreed. “He’s 24 now. He probably hasn’t played loads of football for a 24-year-old. He was in academies up until late then he played 20-odd games for Forest Green, so his real consistent period of senior football has come at our club. You can see that he’s getting more consistent and he has been excellent. He was hurting the other day, but he has come into training since with a big smile on his face, and he has been a very, very good signing for us.”

Despite plenty of competition in midfield, Diallo has been a regular under Higgins and he really came to the fore in the recent run of games in the Europa Conference League, where he scored goals against HB Torshavn and KuPS.

“He brings that composure and he has got an edge to him as well,” Higgins continued. “What I like about the midfield players at this club, is that you couldn’t put two of them in the same bracket because they are all very, very different. You need that for different games, but Sadou definitely brings that composure and calmness to our play, but he does have an edge that I like as well.”

Only goal difference currently separates Derry and Bohemians at present, and while the Candystripes have played a game less, victory for Declan Devine’s side could catapult them back into the title picture at this late stage. There could even be a four-way title race at the top in the last few weeks such are the fine margins between Shamrock Rovers, St. Patrick’s Athletic, Derry City and Bohemians.

“That’s why the points are lower than they would be previously,” Higgins considered. “It’s good and I think it’s healthy for the league. People talk about our investment but I know what other clubs are investing in their squads but that’s not spoken about. There are a lot of healthy squads in our league and there’s a lot of really talented players in our league.

“You saw Bohemians brought Danny Grant back from Huddersfield and they have players really on form. St. Pat’s have a lot of players really on form, and there’s Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers, but I think it’s healthy. I think it’s great and it makes for an exciting 10 or 11 weeks.”

Consistency

As things stand, Derry City would pip all their rivals to the league title if they win their final 10 games. That is far easier said than done, but in a season when nothing is certain, Higgins believes that the one team to find momentum at this time of year could be the one to go all the way.

“There’s 30 points to play for and we have a game in hand on the rest,” he reflected. “I think we’ve seen to this point how strange of a season it’s been, but nothing will be decided until the very end I believe.

“It’s finding that level of consistency. I think a lot of teams have struggled to be consistent throughout but it is what it is. Nothing surprises me anymore in this league and the most consistent team over the last 10 games will win it.”

The Derry City boss is not worried about his team’s inability to take chances, which cost them recently in Europe and the FAI Cup, insisting that his players have proven they can score goals.

“Up until the last two games, we had scored three against Drogheda, three against KuPS away, two against KuPS at home,” he continued. “You could say in different periods of the season it has been an issue, but up until the last four days, we were scoring goals again. We have players capable of scoring goals and hopefully we can see that on Friday night.”