Derry City skipper Michael Duffy says an FAI Cup victory could save the club’s season after admitting the Candystripes have been a ‘let down’ in the League of Ireland.

Duffy scored a brace, and set up the other two, as the Foylesiders came from behind to beat Dundalk 2-1 and book their place in the last four.

There, they’ll make the journey west to take on Galway United on the weekend of the 9-11 of October.

The club are currently languishing in sixth place in the league, six points behind the Lilywhites outfit they knocked out of the cup.

And Duffy told RTÉ Sport after the game that the cup is now a big target for the rest of the season.

“We had to dig in at times there but the boys defended unbelievably and we got there in the end,” he said.

“Winning was the main thing and if I could chip in with goals, and set goals up, even better. To come from 1-0 down, and show that fight from us, that was huge.

“We know we’ve been a let down this year, we’ve been very disappointing in the league. We’re into the semi-final of the cup, and if we get to the Aviva, and win that cup, then it’d be brilliant for us; for the town, for the city, for all the fans to finish on a massive high like that and push on to next year.”

Interim manager Mark Connolly echoed his captain’s message, and also confirmed that the door isn’t entirely shut on James McClean.

The 103-times capped former Irish international hasn’t played for the club since their defeat to CSKA Sofia in Europa League qualifiers in early July.

He was part of the squad for the Rijeka game in the Conference League qualifiers, but hasn’t been included in any of Derry’s panels for their six domestic games since.

“There was a lot of pressure on the boys, this season hasn’t gone as well as what we would have hoped for,” Connolly said.

“As a collective, in the changing room, we all know it hasn’t been good enough. But the boys are really digging in.

On McClean, Connolly added: “James has been training. We just stuck with the same squad that we’ve had the last number of weeks; as you can see today, it’s worked.”

Pushed by Tony O’Donoghue as to whether McClean is still in Connolly’s thoughts for future games, he said: “It is where we are at the moment. He wasn’t in the squad today, and that’s just where we’re at.

“Every player is always considered but at the moment that’s just where the squad was, and that’s what we picked, and that’s what we went with.”

For Dundalk, it’s another defeat in what has been a tricky period for the club.

They’re now depending on Bohemians to win the cup, coupled with them holding on to fourth in the league, if they’re to secure European soccer next summer.

The Lilywhites lead Shelbourne by four points in the Premier Divison, but they’ve played a game more than John Russell’s Reds.

In today’s quarter-final, they made a bright start and took the lead through Shane Tracy, but they couldn’t deal with Derry City’s range of attacking options once the Candystripes got going.

One huge talking point was a penalty awarded to the hosts just before the break.

Ronan Teahan was pinged for a handball just inside the box and while manager Ciarán Kilduff accepted the ball had hit his player’s hand, he argued that there was little the Kerry native could have done to move his hand out of the way.

“No, unless he gets rid of his arms,” was his response when asked if Teahan could have done anything differently.

“There’s a huge bit of uncertainty because there’s absolutely no deliberate action to handle that ball. He’s slipped, his hand went down – yes it made contact with the ball…

“(Referee) Paul (McLaughlin) was quick to give it, it was straight away, he had no hesitation. At half-time we spoke, he said, ‘yeah, it was a harsh one.’

“I don’t know if it’s letter of the law but we’re bitterly disappointed. It’s not the whole reason we didn’t win the game but it definitely was a huge turning point in it, even from the management of it.

“You go from leading, to drawing, to losing in a very quick space of time and that decision was what hinged the game.”

Reflecting on how they might turn things around in the their remaining seven games, Kilduff added: “Win as many games as we can. We’re fourth in the table, we’re proud of that.

“We’re coming up from the First Division. We’ve had a good season, to date. We wanted it to be even more magical with a positive cup run.

“That ends but we’ve Waterford on Friday that we’ll have to dust off and get ready for.”