'Big games are for big names' insists Derry manager Tiernan Lynch

Tiernan Lynch has laid down a challenge to the big name players in his squad as Derry City enter the defining period of the season.

The Candystripes have seven league games remaining to secure European football, and that journey starts with a trip to Dalymount Park tomorrow night to face their biggest rivals in the battle for what they hope will be a second place finish.

With Shamrock Rovers almost certain to secure the league title in the coming weeks, the onus is on Lynch and his players to achieve their one remaining goal in the remainder of the campaign, and a win at Bohs would take them a long way towards achieving that.

"This is a hugely exciting league," Lynch said. "It's one of those leagues that probably all year every time you came in after a game the table changes. People jump up and others drop down and there's that constant pressure of needing to get results. Otherwise two defeats and you're looking up the table and two wins you're start looking down a little bit. That's what makes the league as exciting as it is. And I think Bohs are there on merit. They're a side with lots of youth, lots of energy and work really hard as a team. They have good players and it's a difficult place to go."

Shamrock Rovers' road to the title has been largely untroubled, primarily due to the inability of their competitors to find any consistency this season. Derry City have managed just one win from their last six league games since scoring seven goals against Waterford at the Brandywell back in July, while Bohemians have managed just one win in their last five league games. Lynch however is focusing on the positives of the more recent results, with City winning at Galway United for the second time this season, before coming back from two goals down to draw with St. Patrick's Athletic at the Brandywell in the last game before the international break.

Bohemians and Derry City meet in a huge game for both clubs tonight.

"Probably very early on in your managerial career you get carried away with the highs and with the lows you can't pick yourself up again," he continued. "What's important is you don't get too carried away with the highs but at the same time you don't get too down with the lows. Thirty six games is a long time and they come around very, very quickly.

"We have talked about the importance of trying to find consistency. You're going to get ups and downs. That's just the way this league is. Our job is can we go into the next seven games and find a bit of consistency in what we do."

That international break probably came at the wrong time for Derry City giving the morale-boosting nature of the win at Eamon Deacy Park and the draw with St. Pat's, but with no further interruptions between now and the end of the season, the City boss is hoping that the excitement of the run in will serve as inspiration for his players to play their best football of the season.

"We've been talking about this for the past eight or nine days that as a footballer these are the games you want to play in," he stated. "The bigger the game the better the platform and the more opportunity there is to show what you're capable of. The old adage, big games, big names. Ideally this is where we have to show the big names we have in our team. They have to come to the forefront in the next seven games."

There has been good news for Bohemians' supports this week with the news that manager Alan Reynolds, assistant Stephen O'Donnell and coach Derek Pender have all signed contract extensions at the club until the end of the 2027 season, the timing of which may not be coincidental with such a big game on the horizon.

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"If they get something from Friday night or win the game then it's a stroke of genius," Lynch laughed. "If they don't, then what was the point so that will probably depend on the outcome."

Defender Jamie Stott and midfielder Carl Winchester are both available after suspension for tomorrow night's game, but Ben Doherty will miss out again due to injury.