INSTITUTE: Kevin Deery wants players to relish Windsor Park cup final experience

Deery, who captained Derry City to FAI Cup success at the Aviva Stadium, believes his squad and everyone at the club should enjoy the whole experience at the National Stadium.

“We have to look forward to it and it’s going to be a great occasion playing at the National Stadium and it’s something to be relished,” he said.

“Ards probably will be league champions, so it would be nice for us to win a cup competition, so we have to go all out and try to get a win.

“This is the first year in senior football for a lot of the boys, so to have a cup final at Windsor Park is great for the squad and to be playing Ards it will be a good test for us.

“Playing locally in this country the Intermediate Cup is the biggest cup competition you can win for clubs in the Championship.”

The Drumahoe men still have a chance of gaining promotion via the play-off spot and a possible Intermediate Cup double, which would be a remarkable end to the season, especially after their poor start to the campaign.

“People pretty much put the knife into us at the start of the season, but we kept fighting and that’s a good thing to have,” he said.

“Young and hungry players looking to fight for each other is great and if we can manage securing promotion and winning the Intermediate Cup then it would be a tremendous season.

“Because we are very young squad it will be interesting to see how we react, Ards are vastly more experienced but conditions might suit us better, as our pitch at the minute doesn’t suit us.

“I pride myself in my team trying to play football and create openings, so hopefully on the day the big Windsor Park pitch will suit us, but Ards are an experienced side and they’ll know how to handle the big occasion, but I’m looking forward to it and my squad will relish the challenge.”

Incidentally the final will be an all ticket affair and tickets are on sale at the Coffee Stop and they can be purchased at Windsor Park on Monday evening.

The Stute Supporters club are running a bus to the final leaving the Coffee Stop at 5pm sharp.

For further information contact Ian Culbert 0787 427 9607 and the bus trip and ticket will cost £20 for adults & £10 for concession.