It wouldn’t be like him but Ollie Horgan is playing down the prospect of Finn Harps going on a run after their midweek EA Sports Cup success.
You suspect his message to players behind the scenes is always entirely different, but the Harps boss has turned 'keeping a lid on expectations' into an art form.
But hosting Derry City tonight in a north-west derby at Ballybofey, the Donegal men could do with a timely shot in the arm.
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Promising early season draws against champions Dundalk and St Pat’s suggested there was a ray of sunshine starting to show for the promoted club.
But six straight league defeats since then has told a different story with 17 goals leaked in that time highlighting the challenge ahead.
Long-term injuries to Gareth Harkin and Mark Timlin haven’t helped the cause while Raff Cretaro and Harry Ashcroft are out tonight and on-loan John Kavanagh is doubtful.
Harps are the only team in either division without a win but they got a taste of it with Monday’s 2-1 victory over Sligo Rovers in the League Cup.
But Horgan is remaining cautious and expects a tougher test tonight in what he has labelled ‘a savage battle’.
“Derry are fourth in the Premier Division so you only have Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk and Bohemians above them,” he said.
“We’re going to have to lift our game big time to have a chance of getting even a point from the game.
“They’re nine points above us so our lads know what they're facing into. It’s going to be a savage battle to be up to speed with the way Derry play going forward.
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“We have to hope that the win on Monday - even though it was the League Cup - gives us that bit of confidence.
“But we cannot get carried away with one positive result otherwise Derry will win at a canter.
“We've had injuries in recent weeks and we gave some other lads game time in the EA Sports Cup.
“It was 120-minutes for seven of them. We’ll factor all those things in when making the team selection.”
These derby rivals have yet to meet competitively this year but Harps lost 3-0 to the Candystripes in pre-season.
And Horgan added: “Derry are right on form and they wiped us off the pitch in pre-season. They destroyed us physically and football-wise. We were way out of sorts.
“They've put in serious work and are getting results out of it. They're in a European spot so it’ll be a difficult ask for us.”
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