Former Candystripes boss Stephen Kenny returns to Brandywell as Dublin side try to stay in title race

Midfielder Nick Twisk says Derry City are determined to bounce back when title‑chasing St Patrick’s Athletic visit the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium tonight (7.45pm).

Former Derry City manager Stephen Kenny will be hoping his St Pat’s team can recover from their 2-0 defeat to Shelbourne on Friday night, which has put them six points behind leaders Shamrock Rovers and three behind Bohemians in second place.

The Inchicore men do have a game in hand over the top two but Twisk insists they are determined to grab all three points after their setback against Drogheda.

The Dutchman has settled impressively since arriving in July and, despite Friday’s 2-0 defeat at Drogheda United, he believes the quick turnaround is exactly what the Candystripes need.

“We’re happy to be playing again on Monday because we’re in good shape,” he said.

“Yes, we lost at Drogheda, but overall the last few weeks have been really good. For 90 per cent of the game on Friday we played well and created loads of chances.”

Twisk knows the size of the challenge St Pat’s will bring as they continue their push for the title, but he insists Derry’s focus is fixed on finishing strongly.

“It’s a really big game. We want to finish the season well and win our remaining three league matches so we go into the final at the Aviva with good momentum. I think we have the ability to do that because we have a really good group and we’re in good shape.”

Tonight’s fixture, live on Virgin Media 2, is Derry’s penultimate home game of the campaign, and Twisk says the supporters will play their part.

“We’ve two more games at home — St Pat’s tonight and Dundalk on Friday — and we 100 per cent want to get wins for the fans. They’ve been brilliant for us.

“You can see how many tickets have already been sold for the final. They’ll support us no matter what, but we want to finish at the Brandywell on a high.”

Twisk has featured in all 15 games since debuting in the Europa League tie away to CSKA Sofia, operating in recent weeks as the deep‑lying midfielder dictating play. He admits Friday’s defeat hurt, but says Derry must take positives.

“The lads told me Drogheda is a tough place to come and they were right.

“They hadn’t won there in three years. We conceded a poor goal and they sat in, but I thought we played good football throughout — we just didn’t get the luck in front of goal.”

Interim boss Mark Connolly, who signed Twisk, has injury concerns with Adam O’Reilly struggling after missing Friday’s game. Connolly may rotate across the final three fixtures, with Brian Maher, Christy Grogan, Brooklyn Lyons‑Foster and Darragh Markey all pushing to be involved ahead of next month’s Club Orange FAI Cup final.

Elsewhere tonight, Graham Coughlan’s Waterford face a buoyant Galway United at the RSC. Friday’s defeat to Bohemians leaves the Munster men three points behind Drogheda in the relegation play‑off spot.