Derry City manager Kenny Shiels believes that Finn Harps are still in the running for a European place ahead of tonight’s North-West derby.

While Ollie Horgan’s men are closer to bottom placed Drogheda United than they are to the Candy Stripes, Shiels maintains that their neighbours have the quality and experience necessary to move into the top four.

 “Finn Harps are pushing for a European place, nobody can argue with that, because you never know fourth place can sometimes get Europe, which Shamrock Rovers profited from, and Finn Harps aren’t a kick away from that,” he insisted.

 “I’m concerned about the strength and experience in their squad - it’s quite literally going to be men against boys, but we’ll go there and perform.”

Ten points separate the two teams after City’s 1-0 victory over Bohemians on Friday night, but it is Harps who have the derby upper hand this season after defeating Shiels’ men 2-0 at Maginn Park in April.

While the Candy Stripe boss knows how significant a fixture tonight’s game is, he maintained that he was focused on the long-term future of the club rather than on the results of one game.

 “What we do as a club and what Finn Harps, Sligo or Galway do is none of my business, but through what we do as a club it is quite evident to everybody that we are creating a pathway for young players to develop and to help Derry City to grow and prosper in the long run and not the short term,” he explained.

 “That’s our philosophy and the way we are and that will bear fruit again tonight.

 “Winning this match is important to people in general in the city area, because it’s a derby match, but preparing for the future is much more important.”

 City will be without the suspended Aaron Barry and Harry Monaghan is also missing.

 “Harry failed a fitness test on Sunday morning and he’s a big loss to us as well as Aaron,” admitted Shiels.

 “We were hoping to establish a back four which is consistent and if you remember back to last year around the same time we lost Ryan McBride and Aaron Barry for the rest of the season and that was a cruel blow, but we got through it magnificently.

 “We moved our two full-backs Niclas Vemmelund and Dean Jarvis inside and they did very well; this time we’ll have to bring in the young ones to play at the back, but we aren’t afraid to do that.”

City fans are unlikely to see familiar face and former Candy Stripe Barry Molloy in the starting eleven for Harps as the midfielder continues to struggle with an ankle injury, while influential striker Danny Morrissey has been ruled out with a hamstring problem.

In the last meeting at Finn Park, Shiels’ men ran out 5-0 victors, and Harps boss Ollie Horgan is hoping to rectify that result.

“You can’t forget that Derry, the last time they were here, beat us 5-0. If they are at their best it’s going to be very difficult for us to get anything from the game. Derry had a good win over Bohs on Friday night and are well on their way to qualifying for European football again,” Horgan said.

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