Derry City manager Ruaidhrí Higgins wants his players to use their Premier Division championship heartache as a driving force for Sunday afternoon’s Sports Direct FAI Cup decider against Drogheda United.
The Brandywell men, who haven’t conceded a goal throughout the competition, were two games away from clinching their first top flight championship since 1997.
“We didn’t achieve what we set out to achieve and that happens in football,” reflected the City boss.
“We now have a huge opportunity against a very, very good team to go and grab another piece ofsilverware.
“There’s some massive clubs in this country who have struggled to win a cup in their history. We haveanother chance to do it inside two or three years and that’s our focus.
“We’re all competitive and to see a team celebrating and lift a trophy in your own backyard, it’s tough. But in saying that, Shelbourne are deserved champions. They stuck at it right to the very end and they deserve to win the league.
“We can have no complaints, but it’s not nice to witness that. Hopefully, going forward, we can use itas fuel.
“I think what motivates us to win this trophy is for the amount of people travelling. It’s handy if you’re a club like Dundalk, Drogheda, Dublin, even Waterford to a certain extent – the Aviva is not that big of a journey, obviously, but to travelthree-and-a-half hours from here in the numbers that we travel in, that’s why it’s important for us to try and lift this trophy.
“I said it after the cup final a couple of years ago, it’s for the people of Derry. We hadn’t won the FAI Cup for 10 years prior to two years ago. Now we have a chance to do two in three years.
“It’s to bring joy to a city and a community. I think that’s what drives me, certainly.”
After their disappointing finale in the league, City finished in fourth place and out of the European places – so the Foylesiders know they need to win the cup to secure European football in 2025.
“There’s no doubt about it, this club now needs to be playing inEuropean football,” he explained.
“Obviously, we need to win the Cup to qualify for Europe.
“Our focus is on trying to win the game. If we win the game, we getEuropean qualification and we win the FAI Cup and we kill two birds with one stone.
“We want to go and perform. If we can perform anyway like we did the last time we were there, then we’ll be extremely happy.”
It’s a race against time for the Candystripes’ leading marksman,Pat Hoban, to be fit for tomorrow’s clash.
The 33-year-old picked up a hamstring injury during the first half of last month’s home clash against Sligo Rovers and didn’t feature in their remaining three league games, but Higgins hasn’t ruled the striker out just yet.
“Pat has a hamstring injury. He’s been out now for a few weeks and we’ll see closer to kick-off,”confirmed the 40-year-old.
“Obviously, muscle injuries are difficult, but knowing his character and his personality and his hunger to win, if he feels he can make an impact then he’ll make himself available, that’s for sure.”