Ruaidhri Higgins - 'We are facing a Premier Division team tomorrow'

FAI Cup Round 2

Cork City vs. Derry City

Turner’s Cross

Friday, 7:45pm

Ruaidhri Higgins believes Derry City will face a Premier Division standard team in Cork City tomorrow night as the Candystripes chase a place in this season’s FAI Cup quarterfinals.

The runaway leaders in the First Division are certain to clinch the league title in the coming weeks, with promotion a certainty as they sit 15 points ahead of their nearest challengers Athlone. But Tim Clancy and his players also want a good run in the FAI Cup and they will provide a significant challenge to the visitors on what is expected to be a big night at Turner’s Cross.  

“It's a big one, and something to look forward to,” Higgins said. “It's a difficult venue, we all know how hard it is to get results in Turner’s Cross, but we'll go there confident and try and do the business.”

“They are a Premier Division team, playing in the First Division. They've obviously signed really well and they've had a really good season. They'll be playing in the Premier Division again next year, and rightly so, they're too big of a club to be where they are, and I think for me they're one of the biggest clubs in Ireland.

“We'll treat them with the respect they deserve, we'll prepare the way that we prepare for every single game, do our homework. Gerard Boyle's been to see them live twice, a couple of long journeys for him. It's a difficult task, but we'll be prepared properly.”

Cork City have been in the headlines recently by significantly boosting their strike force, bringing Ruairi Keating back from St. Patrick’s Athletic and re-signing club legend Sean Maguire after his return from England.

“It's a really good tie, two big football clubs, very similar clubs in my opinion, and a brilliant venue to go and play your football, so we'll look forward to it,” Higgins continued. “There'll be a big local home support, a couple of big signings for them, high-profile signings, so we'll have to be at our very best, day one.”

“It's a big, big game and we won't be going down and making seven or eight changes, that's for sure. We know what we're up against. We won't treat it any different than what we treat the league, because we're not in a position to do that, and we won't do it in absolutely every game that we play. It's a mouth-watering game. There's a lot of good players on show, and as I said, a brilliant venue. One of the best grounds in the country, and it's an exciting one.”

City defeated Cork City 2-0 at the Brandywell at this stage of the competition on their way to winning the FAI Cup two years ago, but this will be their first visit to Turners Cross in the competition since 2015, when a 3-0 defeat proved to be Peter Hutton’s last game in charge as a manager.

The importance of the FAI Cup will never be lost on Higgins, who has experienced success and heartbreak in the competition in his time as a player and manager.

“(The 2022 final) was incredible. I said it previously, it has built the next generation of supporters, I believe that that Cup final, that's what it's did. You see the interest in the young people around the town. It's amazing. And I do believe that the Cup final 20 months ago or whatever it was, had a huge, huge impact on the future of the club and its supporters.”

Improvement

Higgins does acknowledge that his team will have to significantly improve on their first half performance against Dundalk last week, a display which he believes ultimately cist them two valuable league points.

“Previously to that we had been performing in the first half, and in recent times we kind of put that to bed,” he explained. “But you're right, last week in the first half wasn't good enough. We need to start the game well down here, or it could be a long evening, so that'll be our focus.”

“It's a really important period, and we've certainly got the quality and know-how. I don't want to talk about what comes after this, because this is a big game and we have to just focus on this and treat every game in isolation. As I said, we have the utmost respect for Cork and what they've done there, and what they'll continue to do. They're obviously planning for next season in the Premier Division as well, so we know we have a difficult task at hand.”