Michael Duffy has won his second Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) Player of the Month award this season having been confirmed as the August recipient.
Arguably the Premier Division’s stand-out player in 2018, the winger has been in sensational form for the current table-toppers this term – scoring 12 goals in 30 appearances.
Three of those strikes came last month – against Sligo Rovers, Shamrock Rovers and Limerick – to help the Lilywhites open up a six-point advantage over the reigning champions Cork City.
Having been named Player of the Month back in April, Derry native Duffy claims the award for a second time.
“I’m delighted to win it again,” said Duffy, a former Derry City player who featured at schoolboy level with Kildrum Tigers.
“I’m enjoying how the season is going at the minute as I’ve been playing well. I just want to finish the year off on a high.
“We’re in a great position at the moment. It was a mad month, and with 15 minutes to go that night in Limerick we were only one point ahead of Cork, but we’ve dug in and results have gone our way.”
Stephen Kenny’s side have no fixture this weekend but next Friday sees them make the trip to Turner’s Cross for a mouth-watering clash with the Leesiders.
“We will have had a full two weeks training before Cork, so we’ll be well prepared for that, whereas they have a game against Bohemians first,” he adds.
The 24-year-old, a former Northern Ireland U21 international, has already revealed he is keen to represent the Republic of Ireland after receiving a phone call from Martin O’Neill, and he hopes recent performances will be enough to earn him a place in the international squad next month.
“Since I got the call from Martin O’Neill, I’ve been doing well so hopefully next time around the papers will have gone through and he picks me in the squad,” Duffy says.
