DERRY City manager Ruaidhrí Higgins says he has always kept faith in his players in their quest to secure their first Premier Division title in over two decades.
The Candystripes leapfrogged Shelbourne into top spot for the first time since March by winning at Waterford on Friday.
Their advantage is a slender one, though, with the sides level on 49 points, but the Brandywell side seven goals better off. However, the Dubliners do have a game in hand on their rivals.
“I never felt we were out of it - ever,” insisted Higgins. “That’s for other people to say and give their opinion on.
“That’s why it’s the best game in the world because I could say something, you could say something, and it could be completely different opinions.
“Really all that matters is what we do in our dressing room. Sometimes we have to use negativity as motivation and I think we’ve done that well.
“We never felt that we were out of it. Listen, we’ve gone top and it’s great. But we just need to keep performing and fighting for each other. There will be difficult moments between now and the end of the season.
“And there will be good moments. We just have to roll with the punches and deal with whatever comes in front of us.”
The 39-year-old is even more delighted that his players continue to show resilience after suffering setbacks.
“It’s nice to be top because we’ve waited a while to see that. I keep talking about resilience, perseverance, and recovering from setbacks,” he added.
“I feel that we’ve recovered from setbacks really well this year. We’ve taken stick at times and rightly so, but we’ve always recovered and we’ve always stuck together.
“We’re on the home straight. We’ve experience in our dressing room with lads who have been there and done it and we have staff who have been there and done it.
“It’s really exciting and it’s to be embraced. It’s a privilege and we’ll crack on.”
City gave debuts to duo Andre Wisdom and Sean Robertson at Waterford and Higgins was thrilled by the former’s performance at the RSC. He is also pleased that they have also added young centre-back Duncan Idehen.
“I thought that Andre was excellent after only doing his first training session with us on Thursday. He had real composure and class,” he added.
“You’ve seen when we were under a bit of pressure late in the game, his leadership qualities were really good.
“Sean Robertson is a lad with a lot of Irish connections with his family. He’s a talented winger and will give us a wee bit of dash, flair, speed.
“Duncan Idehen is a left-sided centre-back. Both Sean and Duncan have been (training) with us for a while.
“Duncan is athletically outstanding. He’s aggressive, quick, and gives us balance on the left-side.
“Andre has obviously come in short term, but we’re planning for the future signing the likes of Duncan and Sean as well. We’re really happy with the three.”
The Derry gaffer admitted their narrow 1-0 win over Keith Long’s side, which came courtesy of a goalkeeping howler by Louis Jones, was the hardest of their four matches against the Blues this year.
“It was definitely the toughest game that we’ve had against Waterford this season,” he explained.
“I thought that they were very good - particularly in the second half. We had to show a different side to us. I thought in the first half, we played with composure, some quality, and we maybe should have got ourselves in front.
“The second half, we had to play on the break. The conditions and wind didn’t help, the TV probably wouldn’t have shown that, but there was a stiff breeze blowing into the City goal.
“We had to play more on the break and be more resolute defensively. I’m really proud of the players.”
