As pre-seasons go, it's not exactly the worst run of results. OK, we lost to Crusaders, but we did beat Ballymena United, Ayr United and Morton (on penalties) and draw with Brechin City and Dumbarton. Hardly convincing, I'll admit, but most teams were ahead of us in pre-season preparations and we went into games after a full training session earlier in the day. Things will step up another gear tonight as we're going to be up against a team that is more than half way through its league season.
Derry City are currently managed by Stephen Kenny, a name that should be familiar to Saints fans from the 2006/07 campaign. During that season, he was put in charge of Dunfermline and almost salvaged their SPL status at our expense, only to miss out thanks to that mad May afternoon at Motherwell. He only lasted a few months more before getting the boot and he returned to Derry, where he'd been manager before he made the switch to Fife. One of the men to try their hand at Brandywell while he was in Scotland was ex Hearts boss John Robertson, although he didn't last very long. The club have had financial troubles in recent years but look set to return to the top flight at the end of the current season.
After the kids and assorted fringe players were put out last night, it's fairly certain we'll be back to a pretty strong side tonight. So, expect to see the likes of Paul Gallacher, David van Zanten, Darren McGregor et al in from the start. Steven Robb and Lee Mair will miss out through injury, while the mystery trialist from last night might get another shot at glory.