'The right game, at the right time' insists Derry manager Lynch

Derry City vs. Drogheda United | Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium | Saturday, 8pm

Being in the hat for the FAI Cup quarterfinals is all that matters for Tiernan Lynch as Derry City prepare for a potentially season-defining game against holders Drogheda United this Saturday.

Having watched their title hopes fade away in recent weeks thanks to a return of just one goal and two points in the past four league games, the importance of Derry City winning the cup is not lost on Lynch, but given the recent poor return from his team and the criticism which has followed, Saturday’s cup tie at the Brandywell may have come at just the right time.

“As long as you win it,” Lynch insisted. “It’s a great distraction as long as you get your name in the hat at 10pm on Saturday night. We’re under no illusions how difficult the game is going to be on Saturday night.

“Drogheda is a really difficult team to break down; I don’t think they’ve conceded a goal now for four or five games and they’re just one of those teams who are very good at what they do, and great credit to them for it. We know we have to be at our very best and whether it’s head or whether it’s at Drogheda, it makes no difference. There’s a challenge in what comes with Saturday night.”

There should be extra motivation for a number of the City players ahead of Saturday’s game, seven of which started last year’s cup final defeat to Drogheda at the Aviva Stadium. That was a particularly painful for those in red and white for many reasons, and Lynch acknowledged that it could be a factor.

“Yeah, you hope so,” he said. “Everybody knows and are well aware of losing the final last year and I’m sure there were a lot of hugely disappointed heads, no more than the players and the staff because of the effort and the commitment and the work that they put in to get there. You can hope that you can use that as motivation to put that right.”

Lynch understands the frustrations of the City supporters, with the players booed from the pitch following last week’s disappointing 0-0 draw with the Premier Division’s bottom side Cork City. With the title now lost, European qualification and an FAI Cup win have become the priorities, and the importance of delivering is not lost on Lynch.

“I think that’s what comes with managing big clubs,” he continued. “It’s not something that we take personally or something that we take any offence at. The expectations are high, and we understand that. It’s our job to get better at it. We hope that those frustrations come few and far between, but when they do come, you just have to take it on the chin. The big thing is learning to deal with it, that during games, you don’t try and change, you don’t go into your shell, and that you don’t start panicking and kicking balls away.

“I totally get the crowd’s frustration. More often than not they have been brilliant with us and dragged us through games, so it is what it is and we know what we have to do. The fans have been unbelievable and we have to give them back and that’s very much part of our plan.”

Meanwhile, Lynch admits he is still hopeful that Cameron Dummigan will play some part this season. The 29-year-old has not featured for Derry City in almost a year, since the 1-0 win at Waterford last August 24 due to a hamstring injury which required a second operation back in February.

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“We’re hoping so,” Lynch stated. “We’re hoping that he’s going to join in training at some stage this week. He was almost back but then picked up a niggle on a completely different injury, but great credit to him, he’s worked himself back in and he’s working extremely hard, and we’re hoping that we’ll get him on the pitch at some stage.”