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06 Sept 2025

Whelan close to Derry City return

Ruaidhri Higgins has revealed that striker Colm Whelan is closing in on his Derry City return after 13 months out with injury

Whelan close to Derry City return

COMEBACK… Colm Whelan has been working hard to get back to full fitness and could soon return to action for Derry City. (Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)

Ruaidhri Higgins has revealed that Colm Whelan is closing in on his Derry City return after 13 months out with injury.

While the striker is unlikely to be involved for the trip to Dundalk tomorrow, the Derry City manager revealed that the striker is closing in on full fitness after recovering from his second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Whelan suffered his first ACL injury in the summer of 2022 whilst with UCD, but still went on to sign for Derry City at the end of that season. He made a goal-scoring debut for his new club as a late substitute against Cork City at Turner’s Cross, and found the net again in his Brandywell debut against St. Patrick’s Athletic just a week later. However, his comeback was short-lived as he suffered a repeat of the ACL injury in his third appearance, a home game against Shamrock Rovers.

But 13 months and 50 games later, the 23-year-old is on the verge of a return, which is welcome news for Higgins, the players and Derry City supporters heading into a very busy period of the season.

“Well he's got the all clear now for full contact so he's in training with us every day,” Higgins explained. “It's just building that robustness up and building his physical capabilities up and I'm sure he'll come back into the fray at a really, really important stage this season.

“He has to get the confidence in his knee and all those sorts of things. We'll be in the middle of a really busy league campaign, the FAI Cup coming up, Europe coming up so he'll be coming back into the squad at a crucial time.”

In the meantime, Derry City head to Oriel Park to face Dundalk tomorrow night hoping to get back to winning ways.

With Shelbourne stretching their lead at the top of the Premier Division to six points last weekend, the pressure is growing on the Candystripes to find a level of consistency which has eluded them all season. After a run of four wins and two draws, City have taken just one point from their last two games, but any notion that victory over a struggling Dundalk is guaranteed has been dismissed by Higgins.

“To be fair if you look at their last run of home fixtures, they haven't conceded a goal in God knows how long at home, so they're definitely picking up,” he stated. “They obviously beat Shamrock Rovers very recently at Oriel Park and it's Jon Daly's first game really so the crowd will be up I'm sure.

“If you look through their squad they have the likes of Andy Boyle, league winner, Daryl Horgan, league winner, Robbie Benson, league winner and I’m probably missing out one or two others. You also look at Archie Davis for example who's one of the best full backs in the country, so we know that they've got real talent in their group.

FAMILIAR FACE, DIFFERENT TEAM… Ruaidhri Higgins will meet Jon Daly again, but this time at Oriel Park. (Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile)

“They'll be disappointed with their points return and I have no doubt that they'll climb the table between now and the end of the season.”

Daly debut

Tomorrow’s game will be Jon Daly’s first at Oriel Park since taking charge of the Lilywhites, the FAI Cup-winning manager wasting little time taking on a new role following his departure from St. Patrick’s Athletic. It is the third time this season that Derry City will be heading into such a scenario.

“I've spoken to John since he left his last job and it's a business like no other,” Higgins said. “It's sport and you don't go into a job in football, and I've said this on numerous, numerous occasions, you don't go into a job in football thinking that this is going to be wonderful and a glamorous lifestyle.

“It's a stressful job and you've good times, you've bad times. The bad times seem to be harder than the good times are good, but that's the nature of it. We're all competitors, we all want the same and I'm glad that he's gone back in and as you said he won the cup last year, perhaps 15, 16 games later, he loses his job and that's the nature of the beast that we're in and aye, hopefully, I wish him luck at 10 o'clock on Friday night.”

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