Sligo Rovers manager Liam Buckley described Friday night’s win over Derry City as a “fillip” for the side as Kyle Callan-McFadden and Ronan Coughlan scored on the road to give the Bit O’ Red their first three points of the SSE Airtricity League season.

Rovers were determined throughout and were comfortable against the Candystripes as they kept a clean sheet and were composed all over the pitch.

Buckley told RTÉ Sport: “It’s very important for us bearing in mind the start we had. It is a great turnaround given we had lost four games. We’re delighted with the win.

“As a group we worked extremely hard and keep in mind we have missed the foreign lads who have only been here four weeks and part of the main group for two weeks. The players put in a serious shift and been very compact. In fairness there wasn’t a lot in the game. Nonetheless we took our goals well and we’re grateful for the win.”

The win lifts Rovers, both in mood and the SSE Airtricity League table, but Buckley feels it is just the first step needed.

With results in February and March, he feared a defeat in Derry would have been hard to take.

“If we went into the Waterford game having lost five on the spin, it was a different picture. At least now we have a victory under our belts and a feel good factor.

“Hopefully we get confidence from tonight. We still have some players to come back into the group from that end of it as well which will help. We can look forward to Tuesday.”

Many things seemed to go against Rovers in the first quarter of 2020 – none more so than injuries.

That luck repeated itself with Alex Cooper and Teemu Penninkangas picked up knocks this week.

Buckley is hoping things fall his way over the coming week.

“I was waiting for something to go wrong here injury wise because of how it has gone previously! I’m hopeful Alex Cooper and Teemu Penningkangas will be ready for Tuesday or Saturday.

“Another one or two new signings may or may not come in. That would help the squad if we do get them over the line. Hopefully we can push on up the table.

“We hadn’t an ounce of luck at the start of the season and there wasn’t much in the games. We came out on the wrong end every time howerver. This is a fillip for us, we move on to Tuesday and go from there.”