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Gary Ferry, 24 May
Derry City vs. Sligo Rovers
Tonight, 7:45pm
Patrick McEleney is remaining calm about Derry City's title chances
this season, insisting there does not need to be an over-reaction to
every result.
The City captain, who has won three Premier Division titles with
Dundalk, is hoping to add to that with his home town team, having
recently made his return from a long-term injury. But after the high of
last Friday’s victory over St. Patrick’s Athletic, the Candystripes
lost to Shamrock Rovers on Monday night, and have now fallen four
points behind league leaders Shelbourne. Fans have since vented their
frustrations online, but McEleney, who has seen it all in his time in
the League of Ireland, insists that there is no need to panic.
“We're still in with a shot,” he said. “If somebody said you're going
to be a couple of points ahead of Rovers going into your halfway, would
you have taken it? Possibly. Obviously, the other night was
disappointing, but I think we've been quite good recently, and we're
getting bodies back, so no-one is hitting the panic button here.”
McEleney is well aware of the criticism aimed at the team with each
disappointing result, a fact of life with expectations at the
Brandywell much higher in recent years.
“It’s feast or famine,” he stated. “We can’t get too high with the
highs or too low with the lows. I’ll not be anyway so we just have to
keep motoring on and hopefully feed that through the dressing room, and
hopefully it feeds through to the fans. We're at home now and look,
we're in a title race as far as I'm concerned. We're a few points off
Shelbourne of course and it's easier said than done, but we have 18
games to go.”
McEleney has recently returned to action, and played a decisive part in
last week’s victory at Richmond Park, playing the pass which set up
Paul McMullan to score the winning goal. That was just a small reminder
of what the midfielder can do, and having made appearances in the last
three games, he is hoping to play more of a part before the mid-season
break.
“It's just good to get out there,” he said. “Obviously, I helped a wee
bit against St. Pat’s with the goal and stuff. I've trained a couple of
weeks and I think I've said it previously, it's just day by day with me
now, trying to affect games and get myself to a place where I can go.
When that is, it's not up to me, but I feel really good and positive
about where we're going as a team. As I say, I just hope everybody
rolls behind it and gets behind us. The other night, as I say, was
disappointing, but we’re hoping to kick on.
“I know I'm capable of affecting things when I'm out there. I know I
haven't been playing, not really 100% obviously. People are nearly 20
games ahead of me, but I think I have a know-how and I'll get better as
well, there's no doubt about it, I'll get better.”
Sligo Rovers come to the Brandywell in the midst of poor form, having
one just once in their last nine games, but their recent record against
Derry City is encouraging, having lost just once in their last six
games against the team from the Brandywell.
“I say it all the time, there's no easy games,” McEleney said. “I kind
of knew the season would go the way it's gone, to be honest with Galway
and Waterford coming up and the calibre of managers in the league, that
it was going to be the way it is. You ask any team or any manager about
every team, and there's no easy ones.”
With Shelbourne travelling to Shamrock Rovers tonight, the picture at
the top of the Premier Division could yet change, and McEleney is
looking forward to his team mates bouncing back well from their latest
defeat.
“The game was on Monday, but the fact that we have a game on Friday now
at the Brandywell, I think that’s a good thing,” he said. “I'm hoping
that everybody comes and gets behind us because at the end of the day
we’re still in a title race in my eyes. The other night was
disappointing, there’s no getting away from it, but there's no
negativity in our address room at the minute. I think we're all just
looking forward.”