Ahead of Saturday’s Connacht Derby against Galway United, Ben Dorgan sat down with Jeannot Esua to discuss the challenge ahead, facing his former club and the atmosphere building around the Showgrounds.

Looking ahead to the Connacht Derby

“It’s always a massive game when you’re preparing to play the derby. But we kind of prepare for the game in the same way as we prepare for the other games.

Obviously, you’re always going to get a little bit of an edge as a footballer going into those games because it’s going to be a vital game for both clubs.

Galway is not an easy team knowing them from my time playing for them. It’s going to be a tough game, it’s going to be a physical game. But we just need to show up and do our jobs and hopefully get the three points.”

On the importance of Saturday’s clash

“Like I said earlier, it’s a massive game for both clubs. Obviously we lost down there in Galway because it’s not always an easy place to go.

But now they are coming to the Showgrounds, so we need to show up and put on a show for the fans and hopefully the fans get behind us as well so together we can push to get the points.

And just like you said, it’s a very important game for both clubs. A win here is going to see either club go ahead of each other. So we just want to push to get the win and hopefully shoot up the table.”

On facing his former club

“To be fair for me, it’s always a normal game. Like I kind of prepare for my games the same way. It doesn’t matter what team I play.

Obviously I’m playing against my old club. It’s going to come with pros and cons, but I always just prepare my game the same way, play the game the same way.

At the end of the day, I am a believer that when I go into every game I already know that God has already prepared the outcome of the game ahead of me. So I just go into the game and try to use my talent and just enjoy and have fun.

At the end of the day, it’s the same game as every other game.”

On the Showgrounds becoming a fortress

“I think right now the team is really syncing well with the fans. The fans are getting behind the team pretty much as well and the lads are putting in a good shift.

So I think if we keep putting on a good shift, then the Showgrounds is going to be a very tough place to come.

Also if you compare now to the start of the season, we just needed things to really gel because we had a lot of new players and very good players as well.

So now everything is coming along pretty well. So I think going forward the Showgrounds is going to be a tough place. So we just need to keep that energy going, show up every game, work hard, push and the fans are going to get behind us and that’s going to make it even more difficult for the opponents to come play here.”

Interview conducted by Ben Dorgan.