New Derry City captain Gerard Doherty vows to follow McBride's example

New Derry City captain Gerard Doherty has said that he and his team mates will continue to follow the example of Ryan McBride.

The Candy Stripes are back in action for the first time since the tragic death of their friend and team mate last week when they face Bray Wanderers at Maginn Park tomorrow night.

Doherty, this week named as new club captain by manager Kenny Shiels insists it is an honour to lead the team, but admitted it is difficult to absorb considering the circumstances.

“It’s a strange one,” he admitted. “I was sort of thinking about it whenever I heard the news. The strangest part about it will be not handing it back to Ryan. It’s a proud thing for myself to be leading the team. I’ve done it before but it was obviously under different circumstances. That will be the strange part of it, not handing it back to him.

“Everybody is in the same boat, even from training the last three days you can see that the boys have got a wee bit about them. They are trying to put things to the side and as hard as it is, get on with the job in hand, which is the Bray match.”

Doherty first heard the news of his captaincy whilst in the company of some of Ryan’s loved ones, which, he believes, makes it much easier transition.

“When I heard that I would be the next captain after Ryan, I was actually sitting along with Ryan’s girlfriend at the time,” he revealed. “There have been a couple of wee signs over the last week that he’s still about somewhere and I thought that that was appropriate that me and Edele were sitting along with Mairead when the news came through.”

Doherty will now lead his team mates out in the first game back since City’s enforced break on what is sure to be an emotional night at Maginn. With the club planning to honour their departed captain, it will be up to the players to remain focused on the task at hand.

“We know there is going to be a couple of things happening before the match and there is going to be a lot of emotion around the place, but we have to put that to one side when it’s all over and done with and get on with our jobs,” Doherty added. “As harsh as that sounds, there is still a job to do. Everyone is going to be saying ‘Do it for Ryan’.

“We have spoken about this as a unit but boys have to go out and do it for themselves first. You go out and do it for yourself and then the team will be grand if everybody has that attitude. That’s exactly the way Ryan played; he went out and he led by example and we will do the same. No matter what the result is in the match there is only one thing we can do and that is give it 100% and whatever happens happens.”

Doherty though agrees that the players are not robots, and tomorrow’s tributes to Ryan are bound to affect them.

“It is going to be tough,” he agreed. “Even coming into training and Ryan isn’t there, he is in the back of our minds and you can see that in people. We are not going to go overboard. Stuff has to be done. There are formalities and it will be hard for a lot of people. For the fans and the staff also, it’s going to be emotional. At the end of the day, and I think Kenny has said this already, but we go on, and we go on as a club. As team mates we go on and try and do our best and that’s all we can do.”