'This is the biggest game of our season!'

Derry City vs. Shelbourne

Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium

Tonight, 7:45pm

There may be an FAI Cup final to look forward to but tonight’s game against Shelbourne is the biggest game of the season for Ruaidhri Higgins.

The Derry City manager has led his team on a run of 18 games unbeaten domestically since losing at Sligo Rovers at the end of May, and nine successive victories over the last two months has put the Candystripes in prime position for silverware this season.

Victory over Shelbourne at the Brandywell will all but secure European football for next season, but even with all those incentives, Higgins knows how tough it will be to get three points against the Dubliners.

“It will be a tough game because they have been really good recently,” particularly against the teams towards the top end of the table,” he said. “They have been a tough but to crack, with some really good individual talent and they have been well-coached. We know we’re going to up against it. They came here and won earlier in the season.

“We played extremely well in the first half of that game but faded away in the second half and were punished. There were two 1-0 victories in Tolka for us, so the game have been tight and we expect no different, but we’re in good form. The players are full of confidence and enjoying their football, so we need to keep that going.”

Tonight’s game is a warm up to next month’s FAI Cup final between the two teams, but Higgins expects no let up from Damien Duff’s side, who could rightly describe their first season back in the top flight as successful.

“He's done a good job, they are in the cup final and they have consolidated their position in the Premier Division,” he acknowledged. “They have taken a few scalps along the way and they have beaten us here at the Brandywell and we don’t want that to be replicated.

“They are too professional to switch off. I remember 2012 we didn’t have a brilliant year, but we won four out of our last five league games going into the final and we won the final so momentum is important and they will want to continue their momentum.

“It would be a dress rehearsal of we had nothing to play for, league-wise, but there’s so much to play for. In our minds this is the biggest game of the season because it’s the next one, and that’s the way we’ll be treating it.”

Patching returns

Will Patching will be available after suspension as City go for 10 wins in a row, and Higgins is hoping that the leadership qualities in his team will help them achieve that.

“We’re in a good run of form, we’ve won nine domestically on the spin and our aim is to make it 10 and then we’ll re-evaluate where we our then,” he continued. “Our game in hand is on Monday. Everyone is in good spirits and we’re winning games and we want to keep that going.

“It can very quickly change if you take your eye off the ball and you stop doing what you’re doing, individually and collectively, so nothing’s changed for us. We have too many leaders now in the dressing room to take our eye off the ball and there’s much importance in each individual game. We’re fully focused and we want to continue the run that we’re on. We know it will be a very, very difficult game, but we need to do everything in our power to pick up another three points.”

Higgins also singled out Cameron McJannet for praise ahead of the game, insisting the defender is getting better with each passing game.

“Cameron, for me, has had an unbelievable season. He goes under the radar, I don’t know why, but he does, but the players and the staff and our supporters realise what he brings to the table. I know I’m singling him out and I’m singling him out for a reason because, for me, he’s an outstanding player and he’s only going to get better.”