League Preview: Derry City -v- Shelbourne
Brian Maher celebrates his penalty save from Shane Farrell in the scoreless draw with Shelbourne, Credit: John-Paul McGinley (ETPhotos)
DERRY CITY
Derry City manager Ruaidhri Higgins has called on his side to finish the season on a high.
The Candystripes host Shelbourne on Friday night at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium looking to seal their European place.
And while their title hopes are all but over, Higgins wants City to see off Shels.
“While it has been a frustrating couple of weeks in terms of the title race, there is still an awful lot to play for,” he said.
“Our home form has been really good for a while now and with two of our last three matches at the Brandywell we have the opportunity to finish on a high.
“We know that picking up three points on Friday night would be huge and if we do that, it means we’re very close to securing European football again.
“It’ll be far from easy because Shels have been enjoying a good season themselves.
“They’re a really well coached side and although they have the best defensive record in the league, they’re about more than that.
“They have very good individual players and we’re under no illusions that it will be a difficult night.”
SHELBOURNE
Luke Byrne revealed that the Reds have had a ‘tough’ week in training ahead of their crunch clash against Derry City on Friday evening.
The Shels skipper is aware that the Reds need a positive result on Foyleside to keep their slim hopes of a top-three finish alive.
But he is confident of a result nonetheless.
“We had a tough week training, we didn’t do any kind of down week,” Byrne explained.
“We worked hard, and the staff started planning for this week’s game. If anything it was good to get bodies right this break.
“It gave a chance to rest the guys who have been carrying us in recent games, playing a lot of minutes.
“Also, we’ll be playing on an astro pitch up there. We’ve trained on one all week in preparation for it. The week has gone really well.”
Referee: Rob Hennessy.
PREDICTION
Derry City 1-1 Shelbourne
Derry City
Injured: Ciaron Harkin, Colm Whelan.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Shelbourne
Injured: Sean Boyd, JR Wilson, Matty Smith, Daithi Folan, Brian McManus.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
