Derry City captain McEleney leading into the future!

Patrick McEleney has a point to prove to himself more than anyone else this season.

The Derry City captain does not need reminding of the frustrations of 2023 – just 10 league starts, and without 90 minutes completed since March 31 – he wants to focus on the future.

So, when he leads Derry City out against Drogheda United on Friday night, you will be hard pushed to find a player in the Brandywell, or even the whole of Ireland, as hungry for the 2024 season to start.

McEleney returned to his hometown club to great fanfare for the 2022 season, and lifted the FAI Cup at the end of a memorable year.

But individually and collectively, the team were unable to push on, with injuries in particular devastating any chance of matching Rovers over the course of an entire season.

When the season ended, McEleney headed to Sweden for operations on both his Achilles, and since then it has been steady progress to ensure he is in his best possible condition to lead his team to a much-improved 2024.

“Last year I needed the operation on both my Achilles, but it was just a case of basically get on with it in a sense, knowing I could get it done at the end of the year and play as much as possible,” he recalled. “It's not ideal when you can't really train the way you need to train to be producing proper performances all the time.

“I've had it done and I missed the first week of pre-season, but I've been flowing ever since with no pain or anything so I'm just hoping now.”

“Obviously 10 league starts isn't what it would be if I was fit and able to run properly. It was disappointing, we obviously finished second last year and were a kick of the ball away from a play-off in Europe and a kick of the ball away from advancing in the cup, where God knows what would have happened after that because they went on to win it. It's really fine margins that we needed to tidy up on really.”

McEleney is now surrounded by players who know what it takes to win – with the additions of Daniel Kelly and Pat Hoban further strengthening Derry’s cause. But in a demanding and competitive league where no team is guaranteed anything, McEleney knows that success has to be hard won.

“We know what we need to do,” he insisted. “We have more people here now who know what's expected and how to win things. You need to nip out those wee periods during the year where you go on those slopes, because you need to be at it for a full year, and if you're at it for a full year then you'll win it.

“Rovers have kept everybody and they have added quality. People think that Derry should just rock up and win the league, but that's not going to happen. They are a well-oiled machine and they are not going to hit the off button. There is no off button.

“It's just whether we can go above them in the sense of everything. You have to be at it, you have to win the big games, you have to take the big moments when they come, but they are not going anywhere, and Pat's and everybody else have strengthened as well. It's probably the toughest league in a long, long time.”

Culture

Having a good team bond off the pitch is just as important as unity on the pitch, and McEleney takes heart that he is leading a group who are not content with second place any longer.

“You have to have a culture within the club where it needs to be run properly by the players,” he continued. “The staff don't play, it's us who have to go out and do the business. Adding Dan Kelly and Pat, there's no doubt, they have been there and done it as well, so the standards have been raised a wee bit, but I can only speak from my time here and it's a brilliant changing room.

"I can't fault effort ever, be it in the changing room, or in training, at no time. Sometimes it just comes down to a break of the ball or that killer instinct.”

The FAI Cup win in 2022 did not in fact herald a new dawn in the League of Ireland, and McEleney believes now that the win made some people much too expectant.

“I said it from the first day I came in that I was here to try and win things,” he explained. “Maybe winning the cup in the first year killed us a bit. it was obviously amazing and we came second in the league, but everything was just expected then.

"This is us, we're here, we've made it. But it's not the case. Everybody has spent money, all of them, and just because we bring in good players doesn't mean we're going to rock up and topple Rovers who have been there for years and years.

"When you play for Derry, there is a demand now to win things, and there has been now for years so that won't change.”