MATCHES don’t come much tougher than Friday night’s (April 20) encounter of Derry City against league leaders Dundalk at Oriel Park (kick off 7.45 pm).
The Candy Stripes are on the crest of a wave having extended their winning league run to six matches with Monday night’s victory over Bohemians.
That performance came at a cost however as Kenny Shiels now faces a fresh injury crisis ahead of the trip to Louth.
The Derry boss refused to go into any detail but said that the current programme was always likely to take a toll at some stage.
“I have three players definitely out and a fourth extremely doubtful for the Dundalk game but it would be of no benefit to Derry City for me to start listing names” he said.
“We’re on a great run and that is testament to a lot of people.
“It has been suggested that the Brandywell pitch has influenced our results but that is very unfair to the players, coaching staff and supporters who have all contributed to this effort.”
“The reason that we have been playing well is down to the effort and preparation of our staff, the committment and hard work of the whole squad and the magnificent support we receive from the people who back the team and create a magnificent atmosphere for the players. The pitch has nothing at all to do with it.”
Shiels admitted that his side has a massive job in trying to sustain their run at the home of the league leaders.
“By and large football games are won by the team that makes the least mistakes. It is no coincidence that Dundalk are top because as you can see from their goals conceded column, they make fewer mistakes.”
“They are very well organised-probably the best organised team in the country- and are set up to be hard to play against.”
“Thankfully we’re going there in a bit of form ourselves so we’ll do everything we can to try to preserve our recent record.”
Dundalk currently lead the SSE Airtricity Premier Division with 27 points with Derry six points behind in third place.
But a win at Oriel Park could help Shiels’ players consolidate third position but with a game in hand over Dundalk.
Tags:
