Declan Devine refuses to throw towel in on Derry City's European hopes

Hopes of finishing among the European places with just seven league matches remaining are fading after a second successive stalemate on Friday night against St Patrick’s Athletic at Brandywell.

The Candy Stripes are just four points behind third placed Dundalk who have a game in hand and so Devine’s pre-season target is very much achievable but Devine knows his side must start picking up victories quickly or risk running out of time.

”We’re certainly not throwing in any towels,” he insisted. “That’s not in our nature.”

The City boss, however, claims he isn’t thinking about the bigger picture just yet and is giving his full attention to next Friday’s difficult trip to in-form Bohemians at Dalymount.

And he’s fully aware that his team must improve on their display against the Saints if they’re to clinch three much needed points in Dublin.

“We’ve got to take that mindset out of our head at the minute - the European spot. Of course that’s what we set out to do but our main concern now is to find a way to beat Bohemians next Friday.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re focussed and continue to work at the aspects we’re getting better at. We also understand we have to strive to get better.”

Devine had called for his Derry City team to rediscover its attacking flair going into Friday evening’s clash but while it was a marked improvement from the previous outing against Finn Harps, Derry lacked a cutting edge, cohesion and creativity in the final third - something the City boss knows must improve in the final run-in.

“In my opinion we still have a lot of creativity within our ranks,” he said. “We have to make better decisions in the final third of the pitch and be more expressive in our ability to create chances for each other.

“The players were hurting this week and you saw that in our performance. There was a nervousness and a bit of fear in our approach play. Ultimately it was key we didn’t concede and that was a game we could’ve lost. So a draw is probably a fair result.

“Everybody in the changing room is disappointed we didn’t create because that’s what I’m about as a manager.

That’s what the staff is about and these players on a daily basis are putting a lot of work in.

“We’ve got to get better. There’s a few games to go and we’ve got to make sure we come out on the right end of a few wins. On the counter attack we’ve got to be better. The ability to make it stick in the final third of the pitch and ability to bring other players into play was key for us.

“We have to be more creative in our approach play. We have to have sustainability about our attacks, get more men forward and be more penetrative in our play. “We’re disappointed as it was a game we had pencilled in to try and win.

“We started quite positively but the longer the game went on you saw a nervousness about us and in my opinion it was a fair result. We need more quality and be more ruthless in our approach to attacking games and winning games.

“I think the league this year is such a crazy league and we have to understand we have to get better and get better quickly. But I can’t knock the endeavour and honesty of the team tonight but that will only take you so far.”

Certainly there were positives to take as the young defensive partnership of Eoin Toal and Cameron McJannett produced another assured display.

Darren Cole’s return at right-back has also helped shore up that defensive unit and on the evidence of the last two fixtures Derry have clearly addressed their fraitlies from set-pieces.

Two clean sheets on the bounce now has given the team a platform to build on and now Devine wants his team to lose their inhibitions in front of goal.

Derry did have their chances in the game with James Akintunde, Stephen Mallon and Walter Figueira all having decent opportunities but lacked that clinical finish.

”I think we got a reaction in terms of appetite and spirit. I certainly didn’t get it in the creativity side of things but one step at a time. The players are disappointed in there tonight.

“The players are flat because we haven’t created that much in the game. On the flip side of it and I have to take the positives.

"There’s no point coming out here and having a rant again because I don’t; think it merits a rant. A few weeks ago we were conceding goals and there were a few doubters and a few questions asked about our ability to defend set pieces and giving away soft goals. So that is a positive.

"We take a slight pat on the back for not conceding goals but our job is also to win games and we have to step it up over the coming weeks.

”I think the endeavour was there and the honesty was there but we’ve got to get better in the top end of the pitch. We’ve got to create more chances.

"We’ve got to be better with the ball for longer periods but ultimately we’ve got to make sure we turn these draws into wins.

“You’re better off losing one and winning one as opposed to drawing two. So we’re disappointed we didn’t win the game but I would’ve been very disappointed if we had lost the game. Neither side deserved to lose it.

“Ultimately it was key we didn’t lose it. We’ve got our work to do. We’ve got to try to go to Bohs and get a win.”