Derry City -v- Bohemians

• Frankie Lally
• Tue, Sep 29 2009


A key game in the race for the Premier Division title takes place on Tuesday night, as current league champions Bohemians travel to Derry City in search of three points that would put them back on top of the table.

Bohs currently trail leaders Shamrock Rovers by two points thanks to Bohs' involvement in the EA Sports Cup Final on Saturday which gave Rovers' the chance to go top for the first time this season thanks to an win away against Sligo Rovers.

In the lead up to Saturday's game Pat Fenlon criticised Bohs' fixture pile-up which sees them play three away games in the space of seven days, but Derry boss Stephen Kenny sees no problem with the game going ahead on the Tuesday rather then it being re-scheduled.

"There have been a lot of references around the scheduling of this fixture.” said Kenny. If you look at our itinerary we will do twice as much travelling next week, firstly to Belfast for the Linfield game and then we face a 16 hour round trip to Cork, arriving back at 7am Wednesday with a game against Rovers on Friday night. This is the problem that Derry City and Cork face all the time, Dublin clubs play most of their games in the Dublin or Greater Dublin area, whereas we have to travel great distances on a regular basis.”

Pat Fenlon is happy with his squad after Saturday's EA Sports cup triumph in the RSC, but knows a result in Derry is vital ahead of Friday night’s crunch game against Shamrock Rovers and insists his players must be fully concentrated for the full 90 minutes.

"It's going to be a difficult game. It always is in the Brandywell. We'll have to be at our best. The last time we were there we dropped the level of performance for 20 or 25 minutes. This time, we need to perform for the full 90 minutes," the Bohemians manager said.

Kick-off at the Brandywell is at 7.45 PM

Team news: Bohemians: Jason McGuinness (hamstring), Mark Rossiter (groin), Jason Byrne (back) are all out through injury, while midfielder Gay Deegan is also out as he serves the last of his 3 game suspension.

Derry City: Clive Delaney (back), Peter Hutton(groin), Ciaran Martyn (thigh), Steven Gray (ankle ligaments), Kevin Deery (knee) are all unavailable for the Candystripes.

Extratime.ie Prediction: It’s going to be an extremely difficult game for Bohemians but with Derry's injuries and Bohs' determination to get back to the top of the table I think they'll sneak it. 1-0 to Bohs.