Harkin to miss Derry’s derby with Sligo

Ciaran Harkin

There’s a quick turnaround for all clubs this week with another full set of Premier Division fixtures on Monday night.

And following their exciting win at home to Shamrock Rovers on Friday, the Candystripes are back at the Brandywell again where they will host North West neighbours, Sligo Rovers.

The ‘Bit ‘o Red’ got their own campaign off to a fantastic start at the weekend with an impressive win in Inchicore.

They will no doubt look to carry that into this game, mindful however that they only took one point from four games against Ruaidhri Higgins’ side last season.

The City boss confirmed yesterday that Ciaron Harkin will miss the first ‘derby’ of the campaign after the midfielder was forced off towards the end of Friday night’s match.

“We’ll have him scanned this week to see the extent of the injury but he’ll play no part in this one. Other than that we’re working with the same squad from the weekend” said Higgins.

Reflecting on the first couple of games, the City boss said he was happy with the start, but it was only that.

“Once we came off the field we were turning our attention to Monday night. We can’t afford to lose the momentum of nights like this” he said.

“Of course it’s a tough start but every game in this league is a challenge.”

“Sligo have gone to St Pats and won and not many teams will do that this season. They’re a very good side and we need to be at the top of our game.”

The Manager was also full of praise for the sell-out crowd that packed the stadium for the first home game of 2022.

“They were outstanding all night and that really drove the players on” he said.

“I know we’ll be in front of another full house on Monday and hopefully they can lift us towards another positive result.”

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