'No crisis at Rovers': Derry City boss lauds champions ahead of Friday's showdown

Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch. Pic: Evan Logan/Inpho

Derry City Tiernan Lynch says its ludicrous to talk about a Shamrock Rovers crisis ahead of their trip to the double holders on Friday (8pm).

The acquisition of James McClean is the latest reason why there’s a widely held belief that the biggest obstacle to Rovers claiming their sixth title in seven years comes from the north-west.

Friday’s clash is being billed as the first test of Derry’s credentials. 

They made an early statement by lifting the President’s Cup there at the end of January but Rovers were still in pre-season mode after a gruelling winter schedule arising from their Conference League commitments.

Derry have claimed seven points from their opening four matches – all played at their Ryan McBride Brandywell home – while Rovers have four with a games less played. That outstanding fixture, away to Shelbourne, has been refixed for Monday night.

“I think that probably sums up football,” Derry boss Lynch said about chatter surrounding the latest of slow starts by the champions.

“They won a double last year and get a group stages of Europe. I think they've won one, drawn one and lost one.

“Now people are talking about the crises that they're in.

“Rovers will always to be the benchmark. Our job is to give Shamrock Rovers all the respect that they deserve like every team gets on a Friday night but we also have to concentrate on the things that we're good at.

“We have to go down there with all the confidence that we can implement our game plan and cause them problems.” 

Carl Winchester joins his fellow former Northern Ireland international Liam Boyce on the injured list for the Candystripes. Pre-season capture Darragh Markey will also be missing from the meeting of the big two.

Derry’s artificial surface is due to be replaced by a hybrid surface over the Spring – a period in which they’ll move fixtures to nearby Celtic Park – but their manager feels being on the road will actually improve his team’s output.

“The pitch is probably the big thing there rather than the expectation,” the former Larne boss explained about barriers to success.

“The expectation just comes part and parcel of what we're doing and where we want to go.

“We don't shy away from the expectation and we don't shy away from what our fans are expecting from us.

“We want to deliver for them and we want to give them what it is that's going to get them behind us and make them extremely proud of the football club.

“I think our pitch is the big one. It isn't conducive to the way we want to play, but there’s no excuses. It is what it is.

“We only have two games left on the pitch before the work has started to change it so there's light at the end of the tunnel.

“This is our first away game of the season and we know it will be an unbelievably difficult test.”