Derry City manager Kenny Shiels has admitted he didn't expect his side to win any of their first four games in the SSE Airtricity League.
The Candystripes picked up their first three points of the season with a 1-0 win away to Bohemians at a freezing Dalymount Park last night, courtesy of a Ronan Curtis strike.
Speaking Oisin Langan after the game, Shiels admitted they've had a less than ideal preparation for the new season.
"For such an inexperienced team to come here and get three points was a mammoth task. There's not many teams that will come here and win - they've got quality players, they play very direct, and their percentage play is quite effective, but we dug in and the young lads learned so much tonight."
"We're three weeks behind the rest because of circumstances. I kept this to myself, but I didn't expect us to win any of the first four [games] in this three week period, and we've got a result a little bit earlier than I thought, which I wasn't expecting. So hopefully we can use this as motivation to get us up and running for the next one."
"We have an affinity with our home and we can't get in. They won't let us in to the stadium"@derrycityfc manager Kenny Shiels tells @oisinlangan they can't train at the Brandywell before their scheduled return on Friday #LOI pic.twitter.com/gf04u3DBHO
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 28, 2018
Derry make their return to a redeveloped Brandywell Stadium against Dundalk on Friday, but outstanding issues at the ground means the side are still yet to train there, to such an extent that Friday's game could be the first time the team kick a ball there.
"We have an affinity with our home, and we can't get in", Shiels said. "They won't let us in to the stadium. I don't know. Certificates and all this sort of stuff, it's above my head. Everyday in the last four or five days we've been told we're getting in tomorrow, but we couldn't get in, so it's quite annoying to be honest."
"We need familiarity. The new players need to understand the ambience of the place and the club they're going to represent, but we're not going to get in before the match. We're not even going to have a kick of the ball on the pitch before the game, but the pitch needs to be bedded in."
