Ruaidhri Higgins remains 'confident' in face of Derry City adversity

​And Ruaidhri Higgins remains calm and 'confident' in the knowledge his battle-hardened troops have survived more than their fair share of obstacles and controversies already.

His injury-ravaged side have hit a blip with two disappointing home defeats in succession but in the context of the key players in the treatment room - some of the best in the country - and the costly refereeing decisions, there's no sense of doom and gloom in the dressing room.

A rare admission from a match official they got a major call wrong was scant consolation also but certainly Derry are due an upturn in fortunes in the coming weeks.

And quite rightfully Higgins remains optimistic as the Candy Stripes, despite those notable setbacks, sit in second spot after the opening round of fixtures before the weekend games get underway at least!

They’re also unbeaten on the road with 10 points from a possible 12 in the bank facing into two away fixtures against Dundalk and Cork.

In the words of chart-toppers D:Ream's Derry-born frontman, Peter Cunnah; 'things can only get better' and Higgins is excited about the prospect of having a full hand to deal with in the coming weeks if they can 'hang in there' until some of the talented absentees return.

Micheal Duffy and Colm Whelan are nearing a return to add some much needed firepower to Derry's arsenal and belief remains high in the Brandywell camp after a rejuvenating team discussion this week.

"We had a brief talk on Wednesday," revealed Higgins. "And it was clear to see the players are hungry and ready to go.

"You look at how congested the league table is so if you can put any sort of run together you fly up the table. And it's not been a disaster by any stretch, we're second at the minute," he emphasised.

There's certainly no panic button being pressed as this City team has already shown signs of its resilience.

"We went seven games without a win last year and we got out of that. So we'll get out of this. We don't plan on going seven at all but one thing I do know is the league is more congested this year,” he added.

"Loads of teams already have had poor spells of form. We've had four days and we want to get out of it as quickly as possible and plan on doing that on Sunday."

Home form has been underwhelming but to get into the position they're in without the likes of Duffy, Whelan Cameron Dummigan, Mark Connolly, Cameron McJannet and Adam O'Reilly for the majority of the opening nine matches has been nothing short of remarkable and shows the strength in depth which will stand for them as the season goes on.

"These are players that could play for anyone," continued Higgins. "I've no doubt that whenever we get people fit, if we just hang in there over the next few weeks we'll be bang there.

"I think you're never going through a season without a wee bit of adversity. But they say these things even themselves out, so I'm looking forward to that.

"I suppose statistics, you can use them when you want to suit your narrative. You never get comfort from losing but although we weren't great against Drogheda we had, if you look at stats, we were the better team.

"We were a bit better against Bohs if you look at the stats. I know stats don't win you games but it's not a million miles away."

When it was put to him that things weren't going to badly wrong despite the recent home blip, Higgins countered:

"We know we haven't been at our very best but also it's clear we've been on the wrong end of a few poor decisions which have potentially cost us.

"People can say you're making excuses and I've said it myself about other people but if you look at the last four home games you can't get away from it.

"I know for a fact this is an outstanding squad of players and we will go on a very, very strong run. Hopefully sooner rather than later but it will happen I've no doubt in my mind.

"We have a lot of good players available but it's important to realise we still have four or five of the best players in this country to come back from injury.

"I've never been as confident about a group of players and if we at some stage get to a point where we have all our players available then we're going to be some team.

"Until then we need to stick at it, dig in and try and pick up points until that happens.

"This is an absolutely brilliant group of players, good lads who all want the same thing. We will work extremely hard this week and prepare to go to Dundalk and pick up three points.

"It's a difficult venue but I have so much confidence in this group that when we get it right and when we have a full quota of players to pick from then we will go on a run, a very strong run I've no doubt.

"I know there's really good times ahead for this group of players."

Skipper Patrick McEleney is rated doubtful for the return to his old stomping ground after hobbling out of Brandywell last Monday night but Higgins insists the injury isn't as bad as it looked.

"It's settled a bit this week. We'll see closer to the weekend how he is. Michael (Duffy) and Collie Whelan we'll see how it goes this week for them too.

"They're getting really close and, fingers crossed, we can see them introduced in the not too distant future."