Dundalk ready to face Derry City

Dundalk will be looking for their third win seven days when they travel to face League of Ireland table toppers Derry City on Friday night.

After dismantling St Patrick’s Athletic 5-0 last Friday, Stephen O’Donnell’s men followed it up with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Shelbourne at Oriel Park on Monday night.

The result leaves the Lilywhites in third place, just three points behind Ruaidhri Higgins’ men. Dundalk make the trip to the Maiden City on the back of an amazing run which has seen them lose just one of the 18 games they have played at the Brandywell since 2012.

Dundalk won both matches at the venue last season. In May, goals from Robbie Benson and Patrick Hoban secured a 2-1 win. While Keith Ward’s solitary strike was enough to bag all three points on the final night of the season in November.

This will be the 101st time the clubs have met in all competitions and the 84th league meeting. Dundalk’s league record is as follows: W38, L21, D24.

“We’re really looking forward to it” explained head coach Stephen O’Donnell.

“The Brandywell is always a good place to go and play. It’s a really big pitch so it suits good footballers and there’ll be a lot of them on the pitch on Friday”.

“Derry are unbeaten in their opening four. They'll be riding the crest of a wave at the minute but our confidence is also high after the last two results. It'll be a good sort of measuring stick for where we are at, where our individuals are at and collectively where we're at.”

“There are a lot of links between the clubs and there’s a really good sort of relationship there. Myself and Ruaidhri (Higgins) are really big friends and a lot of the lads who are here are friends with some of the players who moved to Derry but that goes out the window once the match starts. You become friends again on Saturday, and hopefully, you have bragging rights!”

“We have an amazing record at the Brandywell which I wasn’t really aware of until recent days but, ultimately, it’s not going to count for anything come Friday night”.

“You don't win games on your historic record of the previous 10 years. It's about what’s happening here and now and what's in front of us.”