By John Haughey BBC Sport

Stephen Kenny's side recently won the League Cup

Tales of Kenny's disciplined regime regularly do the rounds in the Maiden City and the Dubliner smiles as he senses the need to explain the sight of empty glasses in the Derry City boardroom, three days ahead of probably the biggest game in the club's history.

"After the League Cup last week, we never had a chance (to celebrate) so we (management and players) had a small glass of champagne in the boardroom this evening," says Kenny in a barely-audible voice.

"It was a light-hearted thing to lighten the mood ahead of the game in Paris."

The players heading home on this Monday evening after training have to negotiate their cars past Derry's greyhound racing fraternity who are readying themselves for another night of action at the Brandywell track.

Several of the doggie men shout good wishes to the Derry players and it's a snapshot of the bond that exists between the city and this football team.

Kenny is acutely aware of this and, in fact, positively encourages it.

"We have seen the reaction in the city over the past few weeks with the Gothenburg, Gretna and Paris St Germain games and the enjoyment that the people get from it.

"The players eat in the restaurants and go shopping and they meet the people and feel the passion."

Kenny's own passion was on show when he was interviewed by BBC Northern Ireland's Mark Sidebottom after the 0-0 home draw against PSG a fortnight ago.

The Dubliner is reluctant to talk about himself and his methods but those acquainted with the club speak of a man whose professionalism and attention-to-detail has transformed the outfit.

Kenny does acknowledge that he expects "the highest professional standards" of his squad.

"We have a regime that in conducive to players fulfilling their potential.

Stephen Kenny's side overcame Gretna in the Uefa Cup

"Colm O'Neill, our physical conditioning coach, monitors their body fat and weighs them individually and we get feedback on their physical conditioning.

"But we have good technical players. Paddy McCourt, Kevin Deery, Killian Brennan, Gary Beckett, Mark Farren are all players with very high technical ability."

Kenny arrived at Derry City just over two years ago, a couple of weeks after a somewhat bizarre sacking by Bohemians.

The Dubliner had guided Bohs to an Eircom League title and a second-place finish in his two seasons in charge.

However, exit from European competition in 2004, allied to the club being off the pace in the league race, hastened a panic move by the Bohemians board which they must surely regret given Derry's progress over the last two years.

Kenny, who played for St Patrick's Athletic and Home Farm before going into coaching, had options both inside and outside of football after his departure from Dalymount Park but he says that needed little persuasion to uproot to the North West.

He had always felt that Derry was a big club with massive potential.

"I felt it was a major club if it was managed right. I knew it would take a lot to turn it around and it has turned around a bit quicker than I first envisaged but there is still so much more to achieve."

One of his first decisions was ensuring that all of his squad were based in the North West as opposed to being drawn from all over the country.

"Early on, I remember we got a bus to Dublin to play a league game and there were six players on the bus when we left here.

"We picked up Gary Beckett in Monaghan and we met the other 11 of the 18 players in an hotel in Dublin who were coming from Galway and the west and Midlands, from everywhere really.

"That wasn't acceptable for me and wasn't a basis for achieving anything really.

Training every day was quite a shock for the players at first but I think now they prefer it Stephen Kenny

"We let some good players go but I felt it was better to work with the raw potential in Derry.

"I promoted Kevin Deery and Mark Farren from the reserves and brought in Ruaidhri Higgins quite quickly.

"We managed to get Paddy McCourt and Barry Molloy and now Darren Kelly and Kevin McHugh lives five miles from Derry in Killea."

Kenny describes his squad as "not completely full-time professional because a lot of our players are still working".

However, the squad does train every day although getting that organised can be tricky because of work and study commitments among several players.

"We're in a transition stage. Training every day was quite a shock for the players at first but I think now they prefer it."

Kenny is a great believer in the team ethic and he mentions the support of his assistant Paul Hegarty as well as the contributions from Declan Devine and Colm O'Neill.

When asked about his vision for the club, Kenny is careful "not to make any statements about Derry dominating Irish football".

"But I think we're going to continue to be at the right end of the table and hopefully add trophies. We've won two trophies in the last two seasons."

He is happy that the club's enterprising chief executive Jim Roddy and chairman Hugh McDaid are working diligently on Derry's plan to upgrade the Brandywell so that future occasions will be able to host far more than the 3,000 who crammed in for the first leg against PSG.

As regards Thursday's big name at the Parc des Princes which is being televised live on BBC Northern Ireland, Kenny talks of a "big ask" but you sense there is that belief that they can cause the French giants problems.

"I'm hopeful we can contain Paris and counterattack but we'll have to wait and see. It's a new experience for a lot of the players."

But Stephen Kenny won't be intimidated by the atmosphere generated by the 46,000 spectators in Paris and such is his attention to detail, it's unlikely his players will be either.