by Orlagh Mullan
Derry City will be without Aaron Barry and Nicky Low when they face Shamrock Rovers tomorrow night in a crucial fixture in the race for third.
Manager Kenny Shiels saw his team consolidate their top three spot in the League of Ireland table at the weekend as Rovers lost out 1-0 to Bohemians on Friday before the Candy Stripes impressive 3-0 win over Limerick four days ago.
That has put them five points clear of Stephen Bradley’s Hoops, who have a game in hand, but faced with taking a depleted squad to Tallaght, Shiels believes it will be a tough test for his side.
“You might say that the pressure is on them because of the recent results and the points gap, but we’re going to be travelling there with an under strength squad,” the manager told the Derry News.
“Aaron Barry has a suspension to serve, and Nicky Low is out as well so it will be incredibly difficult for us but we’ll give our best. It’s very different circumstances to when we went down there at the start of the season, and it will be a lot tougher but we’ll just approach it as it comes.”
Shiels’ side have now won three games on the bounce, keeping three clean sheets in the process, and the manager agrees that the rich vein of form will help their confidence going into such a massive game.
“It’ll certainly help the younger players, especially because we are going to be missing key personnel. We want to give a good account of ourselves, and the boys will be motivated to go out and try and keep the good form we have at the minute going.”
In contrast, the Hoops come into the meeting having lost the Dublin derby bragging rights to Bohemians one week ago, and with City having already beaten them 1-0 and 3-1 in league meetings this season, Shiels said his team must be wary of not being complacent against a side who have a point to prove at home.
“It can be a very dangerous thing when you’re facing a team in those sort of circumstances. We have been working on all those premises,” admitted the manager.
“At the end of the day it’s a football game and we have to be fully committed to it and understand the importance of it.”
With the transfer window closing on Monday for players under contract, the City boss admitted he is pleased to have more strength in depth after the arrival of six new faces that he feels can make the difference in the crucial final months of the season.
“100% they will make a huge difference for us. We really need them to rise up and perform well and to show that they are fully committed to playing for Derry City and to winning. Tomorrow is the first of some hard games coming up, but we have to believe in ourselves.”
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