The Dublin Derby is the only show in town tomorrow night as Shelbourne take on Bohs in the League of Ireland Premier Division at Dalymount Park. (Kick-off 7:45 pm).
The Reds will look to build on the win in Dundalk a week ago when they face their north Dublin rivals for the second time in three weeks.
After training at the AUL on Thursday, Shels boss Damien Duff delivered a positive injury update to ShelbourneFC.ie:
“Boydy is back, which is good news. He’s fit and strong, and he’s been on the training pitch for the last few weeks; it’s just about building him up gradually and getting him back to where he can finish 90 minutes, and won’t break down, but he’s fit and available. Dean Williams is the only one out; he’ll be missing tomorrow.”
Last week Duff highlighted the importance of a good training week in the build-up to the Dundalk game, and he feels that the players have stepped it up again ahead of Friday’s game in Dalymount:
“It’s been a mirror image this week—Monday, Tuesday, Thursday—exactly the same as last week. Usually, that carries into a Friday, and that’s the plan, that’s what we hope for. We know all about their quality. Two weeks ago, we played a very dangerous team. I think anyone who has watched them will agree they are in a false position in the league. They have dangerous players. That aside, did we deliver our best performance or our best version of ourselves? No. We aim to rectify that tomorrow.”
This will be the third meeting of the season between the sides. Shels emerged victorious in the early season encounter in Dalymount, Bohs took the bragging rights for the Tolka tussle, while the most recent match ended in a draw. Duff isn’t reading much into the games that came before:
“You can take things from it [previous game] to a point, learning about individuals, but it’s a different game; they’re playing a different way now, with new players coming in. As are we. We’ve had a lot of change since that Dalymount game. The one thing I’m certain of, there are a lot of big football matches in Dublin this week, but without a doubt, the biggest of them all is Shelbourne vs. Bohs.”
“This is a fixture with pure edge. Other derbies in the country just don’t have it in the same way and can’t replicate it. The edge in a Bohs-Shels game is unrivalled; there’s nothing quite like it. It means a lot to the players, staff, and supporters, and we know what we have to do to win it.”
Duff knows they’ll need a special performance to get a result in Dalymount tomorrow:
“It’s one of the toughest places in this league to go and get three points. Our fans should know that what they saw last time, they’ll be getting that tenfold tomorrow. I know the players are willing to do anything it takes to win the game.”
Duff has warned his players that every game will be a massive test as he expects teams will raise the bar when they face the Reds:
“That’s what comes with being top of the table and being a team that not many people like. We can’t pick and choose when to enjoy being disliked.
We have to relish it, and use it to our advantage. It’s a challenge, but we’ll embrace it, and we’ll have to match it.”
