Ruaidhri Higgins 'won't rush' into new signings for Derry City

Ruaidhri Higgins insists he is calm about the prospect of adding to his Derry City squad and will not rush into signing players in the off-season.

The FAI Cup winning manager signed midfielder Jordan McEneff to a two-year contract extension earlier this week, but is remaining patient as he attempts to add the right players to challenge for the league title in 2023.

Higgins had most of his transfer work completed by early December last year with Brian Maher, Michael Duffy, Patrick McEleney, Shane McEleney, Cameron Dummigan and Brandon Kavanagh all signed. But there will be no repeat of such frenetic transfer activity this time around.

“I know what we want and what we need,” he said. “You don’t always get what you want, but there’s no stress from our end. We’re working away in the background. It’s different to this time; last year we needed a huge volume and big numbers, while this year it’s a few that can enhance the group. We are working away in the background and we know what we want and we’ll try and get there. I haven’t put a timeframe on it. I did it quickly last year because of players’ individual circumstances. That dictated a lot of it.”

Higgins has always maintained that he will only sign players with the right blend of talent and personality, and in what is very much ‘silly season’ for transfer rumours, Higgins is not going to rush into anything unless it is the right deal for his club.

“It’s difficult to get players from within the league who aren’t contracted,” he continued. “The top end players are all obviously contacted to their clubs, so we have to be smart and we have to looking in different direction to see whoever we can get through the door because whoever comes through has got to improve the group.”

Meanwhile, Higgins has admitted that McEneff is like a new signing at Derry City after the midfielder committed his future to the club.

The 21-year-old started 2022 on loan at Shelbourne before becoming a free agent in the summer having been released from Arsenal. He joined the Candystripes in August and made just four appearances before the end of the season.

However, Higgins decision to give McEneff FAI Cup final minutes was indicative of his belief in the youngster’s future, with his goal from the penalty spot in the dying minutes of the game a bonus for both the manager and the player.

“It is like a new signing,” Higgins said. “I knew the quality he had, I knew what he was about, and it was just a matter of him staying fit and keeping fit and it was always the plan that if he could stay fit and he could train a lot of training seasons together over a period of time then this would happen. “It’s been well-documented that he hasn’t had much luck over the last few years, but he’s come in towards the back end of the summer, and he’s hardly missed a training session, he’s stayed fit and you could see week on week that he was getting fitter and stronger and his ability was shining through and I think he impressed, not only the coaching staff, but also his team mates.”

Departures

There have been two departures from the Brandywell this week with Declan Glass returning to Dundee United after his loan spell came to an end, and Danny Lafferty joining Sligo Rovers after two years at his hometown team.

“Danny has had a brilliant career; a really good career with international caps,” Higgins said. “He’s played a lot of football in England and has done well back well here as well so we wish him all the best. I know Danny, I’ve played with him so we can be friends again. Danny is a brilliant fella and his professionalism, particularly in the second half of the season when he didn’t play too much was there for all to see behind the scenes and around the club.”