No time for fear in Derry City camp

TO find a mirror image of the excitement in Cork, head north to Derry where league fever has also gripped the city.

"The mood is hectic at the Brandywell," reports Derry City boss Stephen Kenny. "People are frantic for tickets for Saturday and for Cork, which are obviously in short supply. So it's a busy time for the club.

"From a football point of view, we've been playing well in recent weeks. Even in our defeat by Waterford, we played very well. But we went to Dublin and beat UCD and Bray 5-0 on aggregate, so we're in good form."

Tomorrow, Derry face St Patrick's Athletic in the Brandywell (k.o. 5pm, live on RTE 2), with the Candystripes looking for the first of the two victories that would guarantee them the title.

And though the Dublin club are not threatened by relegation, Kenny won't be taking anything for granted. "St Pat's to their credit have seven points out of nine, including that win over Cork, and they've drawn with us twice this season, so they won't have any fears coming here."

But he also emphasises that this is no time for fear from his own players.

"The players have got to remember why we're in the position we're in - it's because of the football we've played all season. Early on we weren't very prolific but in the final two thirds of the season we've really been expansive, scored a lot of goals and played a lot of really good stuff, especially at the Brandywell.

"So I'll be telling them to continue doing the same thing. There's no reason to change our approach and think it's different because we're coming towards the end. It isn't different. We have two games left and we have to take the approach that we have to win the two of them to win the league. And that's all we can do."

Derry have the influential Barry Molloy suspended for the last two games, and there will be a late fitness test before tomorrow's game for Killian Brennan. Gary Beckett and Kevin Deery return from injury.

For Pat's, manager John McDonnell welcomes back Barry Prenderville, Vinny Perth and Michael Foley, although Barry Ryan is an injury doubt.