IT'S FINALLY HERE! Captain Patrick McEleney has come 'full circle' in his Derry City career

St. Patrick's Athletic vs. Derry City

Tonight, 7:45pm

Patrick McEleney the captain is a long way from Patrick McEleney the teenager who first appeared in a Derry City shirt back in 2010.

Now 30-years-old, McEleney is demanding of those around him, just like players like Gerard Doherty, Barry Molloy and Ruaidhri Higgins himself did when he was in the early stages of his senior career.

McEleney has become increasingly hungry with every trophy he wins, and he was never returning to Derry City just for the headlines – he wants to win, now more than ever. It is that trait which convinced Higgins to give him the captain’s armband when Eoin Toal left for Bolton Wanderers last summer.

“I’ve nearly done a full circle,” he said. “I think it was glimpses and moments when I was younger. I was obviously more agile then but I’m 30 now and I have a different role in the team and I think I am clever enough to understand what I need to do for the team. I think I’ve said this before, that I have to be able to play centre-midfield and make passes for Derry for us to win. I have to do the other side of that as well which is defensively, which I’ve never been amazing at, but I’m still learning on the job at 30, which is good for me, but I’m enjoying it I love playing in centre-midfield and getting on the ball a lot and trying to make passes.”

That new role in midfield certainly challenges him, and as hungry as he is to win, he remains just as hungry to learn.

“I am learning on the job and I’m playing with new players around me and you’re just trying to find solutions and when to go and when not to go, and to be fair I need to be better at it. It’s one of the things that I’m trying, but I definitely need more goals,” he continued.

“Sads (Diallo) has come in mid-season and I’ve never played with Sads. I’ve never played in midfield with Dummigan before because he was a right-back. Then we have Patching in front of us; everything was kind of new and Ruaidhri gave me new responsibilities playing in the middle of the pitch. It’s just trying to find the balance of when to go because you don’t want to go at the wrong time and leave everything open. I’m still learning on the job but I’ll be better for sure.”

Fighting fit

Having had some bad luck with injuries over the years, there were some concerns over McEleney’s availability at the start of last season. But he proved all his doubters wrong by making 34 appearances, missing just nine games all season.

“I was just thankful to the medical staff really,” he stated. “Kevin (McCreadie) and Mickey (Hegarty) have been amazing to be honest. I knew coming back from that major injury that it would be a slow start, but it was just a buildup and just a process and doing what they were telling me. I was impatient at times, but I got my run of games and we did quite well, so it’s just trying to build on that. Look, it’s no secret that I’ve had injuries previously but I think I’m resilient; I’ll always come back and try to string something together.”

McEleney is well aware of the expectation on his team this season, but it is pressure that he is embracing. Having been here several times with Dundalk, he knows just what is expected.  

“Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought the pressure was there for us last year as well but I think we handled it well winning a trophy,” he said. “As I said when I signed, we’re here to win things and we have won a trophy, and that’s one and we want more.

“We’re in a good place. I just think we needed to win that cup final and I think our performance on the day showed it and we did really well. It’s all forgotten now and it’s all about new things.

“I always have to be honest. I think the top players are able to park what they’ve done, and I think that’s the big thing now. I’m trying to get that message across now to boys who have won their first trophy or who have started their careers that while it was amazing and you’ll not forget it, it’s over and it’s time for a new challenge.”

With so much competition in the midfield area in particular, McEleney doesn’t believe there is any excuse for any player to give anything other than 100% this year.

“Competition is healthy and for us to be successful you need big numbers,” he concluded Just for myself, I’ve always been in teams where there has been competition always and I’ve never looked at it in a negative way, ever. It’s up to me every day to perform in training and in games and if you’re not doing it then that’s your own problem, so I definitely don’t look at others.