‘Every game this year is huge' - Connolly

Mark Connolly believes that this weekend’s double header against St. Patrick’s Athletic and Shamrock Rovers is no bigger than any other set of fixtures in what he feels is a highly competitive Premier Division in 2024.

The Candystripes are just one of four teams to have taken four points from their opening two games so far, with every team in the division already dropping points. That fact alone, Connolly believes, shows a higher standard in the top flight this year.

“This league this year is not going to be easy,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult. Every team I would imagine are going to take points off each other. I don’t think many would have predicted the results at the weekend.

“To be honest, genuinely, every game is going to be huge and we have got to roll up with that mentality that every game is going to be big. There are no easy games; Galway away, Waterford away, Rovers away, Pat’s at home – every game is going to be tough. It’s one of those things, but we’ll be ready.”

City missed out on the opportunity to go clear at the top of the table with the 0-0 draw at Sligo in what was a disappointing spectacle at the Showgrounds on Saturday, but Connolly is content that the team will improve quickly in the weeks to come.

“You’re not going to click your fingers and everything is going to be 100% straight away,” he stated. “It’s two games into the league, coming away from home at a place where we’ve probably struggled at in times in the last few years. I feel like it’s just going to be taking every game as it comes.

“We’ll roll up and the confidence will get higher and we’ll get into a rhythm of how we’re going to play, and boys, especially Pat and Daniel, will get used to playing with all these other players.

“As you see with Rovers last year. They didn’t win in their first six, so it takes time to get everything going, but I’m fully confident with what we have and what will come from this team.

“The first few games it’s probably just getting the cobwebs out of the way and then we’ll be ready to rock and roll, but I do feel that we’re in a good place.”

Injuries

The most worrying aspect from the Sligo game were the injuries to both Patrick McEleney and Cameron Dummigan, and Connolly, who has endured his own injury problems, is hoping that both receive good news.

BATTLE… Mark Connolly in action against Sligo Rovers last Saturday night. (Photo: Tyler Miller / SPORTSFILE)

“It’s a difficult one for the boys,” he acknowledged. “A bit of luck would be nice for the two boys. In the off-season, they have worked their socks off to make sure they were right and unfortunately that little bit of luck is eluding them. They are two huge players so fingers crossed for them.

“They are two boys who we want to be in the team and around the squad, but whatever it is, we’ll make sure we deal with it and hopefully it won’t be too long.”

Derry City have failed to score at the Sligo Showgrounds on their last four visits, and Connolly acknowledged that the team has had their struggles there in recent years.

“It was a clean sheet at a tough place,” he reflected. “The pitch wasn’t ideal, as obviously it’s the start of the season and as the year goes on it will get better, but it’s a difficult pitch to play much football on.

“The boys at times rolled their sleeves up and got a clean sheet.

“We didn’t have an easy game. No-one comes to Sligo and has an easy game and to be fair it is a place where we have struggled over the past few years.

“As a team we defended stoutly and I don’t think they had too many chances, and I just thought that maybe we could have picked up a set piece or get a chance at the end, but it just wasn’t to be and I think a point was probably the fair result.

“The attitude and application is always there. We wanted to win the football match, but it wasn’t to be. We just had to make sure we didn’t get beat and we didn’t. That’s two games unbeaten and we roll on to the weekend against St. Pat’s.”