​Derry City need a miracle needed but you’ve gotta have faith! says Sadou Diallo

​And for now that most unlikely scenario remains mathematically achievable but would require a complete collapse from the league leaders.

Diallo has always been one to look for the positives and until he's told otherwise, he's got his eyes on achieving a most miraculous of comebacks despite trailing Rovers by four points with one game less to play than the Dubliners.

The task at hand for Derry is to defeat Shelbourne at Brandywell tonight to secure European qualification and Diallo isn't writing anything else out just yet.

"It's still possible and you can never write it off but it's all in their hands now really," he said. "They would have to drop points.

"All we can do is win the rest of our games and whatever happens with Rovers will take care of itself. We just have to win our next game and then focus on the final two games after that."

The scoreless draw with Drogheda at Weavers Park before the international break all but put paid to those title aspirations and Diallo admits everyone has been hurting since.

"As you can imagine everyone is hurting in the changing room, from staff to players. We're still hurting now but you have to put your heads up and you can't dwell on it for too long or too much because we have a big game coming up.

"We have to put all our frustrations into Friday's game and get the three points and focus on finishing as high as we can. And you never know, if Rovers drop points as well then you never know what can happen in football."

Regardless of what happens at Tallaght where Rovers host Drogheda, Diallo knows Derry must take care of their own business and stressed the importance of finishing the season on a high.

"And what better way to do it than winning our final three games? They're tough games as well. I think two of the teams we play are still in the hunt for Europe so it's not the easiest way to finish but it's the best way to finish if we do manage to get three points from all those games.

"We're going to need everyone to be at their best. Cork will want to finish strong at home as well in their last home game so there's something riding on every game so we can't afford to dwell on things and be complacent. We have to be on it!"

It's the penultimate game at Brandywell this season and Diallo is hoping the fans can drive them over the line against a dangerous Shels side who have a decent record at the Lone Moor Road venue.

"Especially when we started playing in Europe, from that moment on you could sense there was a change with the support from the fans and everything and since then the results have taken care of themselves thanks to the support from the fans.

"I think other teams sense it as well. When the fans are behind us we're a very tough team to play against and sometimes the opponents can't live with it. It drives us forward and we're going to need the fans.

"I know they're disappointed right now but we need them to drive us forward and help us finish as strongly as we can."