Second place now at risk as Derry City head to Cork

Cork City vs. Derry City

Tonight, 7:45pm

Derry City head to Turners Cross today now in a battle for second place with St. Patrick's Athletic. 

With just one win in the last five league games, the Candystripes have fallen short of their expected title challenge, and while a single point tonight would guarantee them Europe for a third successive season, it could also damage their hopes of catching St. Pat's. The Dublin side are now three points ahead of Derry in second place ahead of a trip to the Brandywell on the last day of the season, making a win tonight imperative.

"We will worry about St Pat's after Friday night,” Ruaidhri Higgins said. “All we can do is try and win our last two games. We know if we do win our last two games we finish second so that’s the objective but we've loads of work to do before we can even talk about Pat’s

"I'm extremely disappointed we're not sitting here and still in the mix. It's been a frustrating year. Some good, some difficult. Obviously the European run being the real positive and we want more of that and make sure we go down here and get the job done and bounce into next week.

We know Cork won quite comfortably against UCD at the weekend so we need to be ready for them.”

City have taken three wins from three against Cork City so far this season, but with a relegation play-off likely next for Liam Buckley’s side, the hosts need to build some momentum.

"They're fighting for their lives to avoid the play-off,” Higgins continued. “We need to cement a European place so that's the task at hand. We need to go down there and be really professional and try and pick up the three points.

"It isn't an easy place to go and you would imagine there will be a vocal home support behind them. It's a difficult place to go to but we have to go there and do everything in our power to win the game. It's two teams with a lot to play for so it should be an interesting game."

One player Higgins is wary of is Cork striker Ruairi Keating, who is fighting for the Golden Boot alongside Chris Forrester from St. Oat’s and Jonathan Afolabi from Bohemians.

"He's ruthless and he's had a difficult period in his personal life and has bounced back brilliantly. Real credit to him because I know that’s not easy. If you give him an inch in the box, he normally punishes you so we'll have to be switched on with him.

"He's a good player and he's improved a lot as the years have gone by and he's someone we need to be wary of. He can score all types of goals, he can run beyond and we have to be prepared for him. He's not the only one, they've a couple in forward areas who can hurt you.”