Regarding the midfield injury crisis, Derry City manager Ruaidhri Higgins said, “I feel like I keep running over black cats.”

During the following three nights, Derry City will play twice: on Friday at home against St Patrick’s Athletic and on Monday away against Shamrock Rovers.

After learning that Patrick McEleney’s most recent injury is improving, Derry City manager Ruaidhri Higgins is hoping that things are starting to turn around for him.

But just to be sure, he will henceforth shun black cats like the plague.

Both McEleney (thigh) and Cameron Dummigan (ankle) left the 0-0 tie with Sligo Rovers last week with apparent significant injuries.

Sadou Diallo, a fellow midfielder, sustained a chronic knee ailment a few weeks prior.

Higgins wondered what he had done wrong to warrant such bad luck.

He laughed and said, “I feel like I keep running over black cats,” but he was also confident in his squad’s strength and depth.

“You must choose what to do. I get paid to do it. Whether you like it or not, it’s my responsibility to remain composed and make choices.

“Jordan McEneff and Adam O’Reilly are entering the game, so these are two very talented young players.” I can’t be too critical.

“That was always the idea; we would have the squad to handle any injuries that might occur. It is unimaginable to lose three elite players in the same position. That’s the reality.

“We have a talented group of versatile players on our roster. We’re hoping that the guys will return soon so we can continue.

“We must maintain our optimism. I am aware that the team playing on Friday night is more than capable of winning.

with McEleney’s criticism, Higgins stated, without going into details, “We got some decent news regarding Patrick, it’s not nearly as bad as first feared.”

“Dummigan’s is a little bit more complicated, so we’re waiting on that information today.

It would be unfortunate to lose important players ahead of this weekend’s difficult doubleheader against Shamrock Rovers on Monday and St Patrick’s Athletic at home tonight.

“It’s a harsh reality of football that it very rarely happens to have all of your best players available all the time,” he stated.

“Since we’re not the only club, we need to assemble a strong team that pleases us, and we’re extremely pleased with the group that will play on Friday.”

Following McEleney’s defeat at The Showgrounds last week, Higgins acknowledged that he was prepared for the worst.

It’s more difficult because, to be honest, this is the best preseason he’s had in a very long time.

However, we have some encouraging news and hope he will return soon.

“The thing about Patrick is that he can compete with anyone in the nation when you know he is healthy and fit.

We’ll keep pushing him because we know what an incredible football player he is, and he will keep pushing himself for the same reason.

“We have good numbers in most other departments of the team,” he continued.

“We currently have a small number of players for that position, but we have a strong squad here with players who can also adjust.”

“We just need to try to put some points on the board over Friday and Monday; we have no excuses.”

Higgins is hoping to defeat Pat’s tonight, like they ended Derry City’s FAI Cup ambitions on penalties the previous year.

“The matches held here have been excellent, with two teams vying for the title, possibly excepting the Cup match that they attended,” he remarked.

“That game still haunts me, of course, because we deserved to win and dominated most of it, but we didn’t, and they went on to win the Cup, and you always wonder what could have been.”

“But in football, you can’t look back; instead, we have to focus on the game and try to win.”