Derry City latest: Boss insists he's not concerned about attracting players to Brandywell

The City boss was ‘disappointed’ when the promising Danish winger knocked back his advances on Saturday but he promises to continue scouring Europe for new additions.

Lund refused to accept the terms of a contract offered by the ‘Candy Stripes’ and flew out of Belfast after his week’s trial came to an end.

The previous weekend, striker, Darren Murray turned down a move to Brandywell in favour of a switch to Irish League club, Cliftonville which also left a bitter taste in Shiels’ mouth.

However, the Derry boss refuses to be deterred as he continues to build his squad for the 2016 Airtricity League season which begins next March 4th. In fact he’s widened his search across the continent in recent days and has brought in Croatian striker, Fran Bazulic (22) and Portuguese full-back, Brian Evans (22) for a week-long trial at the club yesterday,

And the pair will have experienced a shock to the system as they touched down in time for training yesterday morning at the Daisyfield in the driving rain.

While Shiels admits he’s somewhat ‘in the dark’ with regards to their quality, he’s eager to see them in a competitive environment as the week progresses before making a decision on their futures.

“They’re doing fine so far,” confirmed Shiels. “They came off the plane and straight into the session this morning. So it’s a bit early to pass judgement because it was only technical work we were doing this morning and with the conditions it was hard. We will get a good look at them in more of a game environment later this week. We’re trying to get someone in areas we might need. So it’s about getting the right player in. I’ve looked at DVDs of them both but I’m a wee bit in the dark until I see them play competitively.”

Voicing his disappointment that former Danish U21 international, Lund failed to agree terms, he said the club must continue to live within its means.

“It was disappointing Philip didn’t sign. But for every player you sign you will get nine or 10 knock-backs. “You can’t give up,” continued Shiels. “You have to be persistent and try and get the right player in.

“We’re going to do things the right way. We can’t go above what we can afford. Even though we’re full-time, some part-time clubs in the Irish League are hard to compete with in financial terms. We have to live within our means. We can’t take shortcuts and we can’t bring in someone we can’t afford.”

Derry’s pre-season training continued at the weekend with a friendly match against NW Saturday Morning League representatives, Creggan Swifts.

And on Sunday, the Derry players took part in their first Yoga class with instructor, Sabrina Friel at Yoga Loft in Springtown Industrial Estate.

“It’s an important part of the recovery process. We’re happy to get the players in on a Sunday and make sure they’re in the right condition come the start of the season.”