Reds gears up for visit of Derry City | OneFootball

Shelbourne FC return to Tolka Park on Friday night as they host Derry City in the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Premier Division. Kick off is at 7:45pm. The game is live on LOITV.

The Reds come into this one after last Friday’s trip to Galway United was postponed just an hour before kick off, bringing an unusual end to their matchday preparations.

Speaking to ShelsTV, Joey O’Brien provided an injury update: “Ellis Chapman and Sean Moore both got game time with the Under 20s against Dundalk in the Leinster Senior Cup, which was great to see. Sean is back out on the pitch, came on, scored and did really well building up his minutes.

Pat, Odhran, Mipo, Milan are all ahead of schedule as well, so hopefully we’ll have a few more options back sooner rather than later.”

On the late postponement in Galway, O’Brien admitted it created a strange scenario for the group: “It was a strange one because we left so early in the morning to avoid the protests and changed our prep to make sure we were spot on. We travelled early, got into the hotel for lunch, and the lads were able to rest and relax.

We got to the stadium and to be fair the rain started around 6pm heavy, and the downpour was so bad that by 7pm it just wasn’t playable. In a way, you almost need a recovery after a day like that.”

Instead, the squad made use of the weekend with an in-house game: “We went again on the Saturday with an in house game, and it was really competitive. The lads wanted to make a mark, and we got good minutes into a lot of players. That was important, getting the guts of a match into their legs.”

Shels now turn their attention to a big home test against Derry City tonight, as they look to secure a return to winning ways.

O’Brien was clear on what he wants to see from his side: “The first half against Dundalk was a real disappointment, probably our worst since I took over. But the second half showed good character, we stayed in the fight and were the team in the ascendance and should’ve won, but ultimately it was a cheap goal that cost us.

We can’t keep conceding the goals we are, a few individual mistakes and set plays are hurting us. Overall, the performances have been decent, but we need a win and the lads know that.”

Derry City arrive with quality throughout their squad, despite some mixed results in recent weeks.

O’Brien expects a difficult contest: “They’ve had their difficulties, but there’s a lot of quality there. We’ve been there and got a result before, but that doesn’t mean much.

They’ve got really top players, and they’ll be looking for a win as well. It’s two teams going at it, both chasing the same thing.”