By Gary Ferry

European football may be beyond Finn Harps now, but Kenny Shiels has offered them consolation by insisting that they are too good to go down this year.

Shiels had expressed his belief that Harps’ recent form, plus a win over Derry in Monday’s derby at Finn Park, could put Ollie Horgan’s team in position for a top four finish, but after watching his team record a 2-0 win in Ballybofey, he has changed his tune. But after seeing harps up close and personal, he believes that his least favourite fixture will be in the calendar again in 2018.

"I don't think they will qualify for Europe now because that has given us that gap, it has stretched and it will be a tall order for them,” he explained. "But certainly there is no way Finn Harps will go down, not a chance. They are too good, they are too committed.

The game could have finished 0-0, there’s no doubt about that, but we squeezed it out of them. We made brave decisions and I’m delighted for the supporters who made the journey and I’m delighted for our players who made the commitment.

“I have to apologise to both sets of fans because we didn’t play with our normal amount of quality; the derby squeezes the quality out of the game, but I thought we did enough to win the match. I don’t think I’m being unfair to Harps when I say that. Having said that, you could lose a game like that so easily, from a set-piece, a corner kick. You could go 1-0 and it would exhaust all your energies.”

City’s victory denied Harps the opportunity of not just winning three league games on the bounce but also a bit of history by defeating their neighbours in successive fixtures for the first time in the club’s history. Harps travel to Bray Wanderers this weekend and Shiels is hoping they can continue their recent good form.

“I just hope for Finn Harps that they can keep up; in the time I’ve been here after playing us they have taken a dip afterwards, because they put so much energy into the game,” he explained. “I just hope they can re-energise and get right up into the top five or six because they are capable of it.

“That’s one of our hardest fixtures, and one I don’t look forward to if I’m honest. Now that it’s out of the way, there’s only one more to go and hopefully they get into the top echelons of the league, because I think they’re good enough and they have a big enough squad to do that.”

Shiels’ inclusion of Eoin Toal in the starting line-up on Monday night means he has now used 23 players this season, most of which are under 23 years of age, and he insisted the coaches at the club deserve credit for maintaining the development of the youth system.

“Young Eoin was very, very good and deserves so much credit, and I deserve credit too for throwing him in, I have to say that,” he said.

“The education that they’re getting in the youth department with John Quigg and Eddie Seydak; it’s no good if we don’t play them. What’s the point in having a youth structure otherwise? They are the ones who are developing the players and I’m the one who is benefitting form that. You have to say they deserve a lot of credit. You look at the two clubs and you look at the young players awe have and the young players we have coming off the bench; it’s testament to the work that’s going on underneath the first team, and you have got to have that.

“There’s good work at Harps also so you have to commend them, but we give them a chance. Your manager has to give you a chance and I feel that we are giving them the opportunity to develop and progress.”

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