Derry City travel Shelbourne ahead of defining week in race for fourth

After booking their place in the semi-finals of the Club Orange FAI Cup on Sunday, focus now returns to the Premier Division and a critical week in the chase for fourth with games against Shelbourne, Waterford and Galway likely to make or break the bid to qualify for Europe through league position.

But Derry will travel in confident mood and with a new sense of attacking freedom under Connolly, freedom that has seen Derry hit 12 goals in their last four fixtures against Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and UCD.

Add in the excellent defensive display against the Lilywhites last Sunday and it's easy to understand why Connolly is refusing to rule out reeling in Shels and Dundalk to take that fourth spot.

"Absolutely," he stated frankly when asked if Derry can still get fourth, "We have seven league games left and it's important we make sure we go into them trying to win every single one.

"We have three games now before the international break and we will be going in to try and win them all, starting Friday away to Shelbourne but it's a tough game so we have to make sure we are really at it.

"Morale is very good," he added, "There was a setback at Bohs (5-3) and obviously Rovers (3-3), but I fully believe we should have won the game. At Dundalk I was really pleased with the character; going 1-0 down and then to come back and win the game was massive.

"It shows there's character in there and we are building on that every single day, the mentality side of things. The boys have been brilliant. They've played some good football.

"The defence... well people have come at them a bit over the last few weeks because of the goals we conceded but I thought they were brilliant (against Dundalk). I thought Paddy (McClean), Jamie Stott, Cameron Dummigan and Brandon Fleming, I thought they defended the box really well. It's something we can build on."

And it was noticeable last Sunday, that when the game was in the mix and Connolly was handed his 'stick or twist' moment as Derry led 2-1 in the second half, the former centre-half opted to introduce attacking substitutions in Kevin Dos Santos and Liam Boyce, changes that ultimately got Derry over the line.

"Listen, Darragh Burns had worked hard, he was tiring a bit and as a manager you have a decision. Do you go defensive or do you go at them?" explained the City boss.

"I just made the decision to go again and try to get the third goal and luckily enough we scored the third and it helped us. The flip side is if you put on an attacker and then the opposition scores, I'm being told I should've put on a defender, so it's a double edged sword.

"You're trying to make the right decisions and sometimes you're going to get them right, sometimes you will get them wrong but we want to get after teams, especially at The Brandywell. It is important we do that.

"And you've seen that, especially the three games at home; Sligo, Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk. We've done that in large spells during the games so, yeah, it's been good. The players have really taken on board what we are trying to do, get after teams, and I'm sure for the fans it's been enjoyable to watch."

That front foot attitude will be put to the test in Tolka Park tonight where Connolly is expecting a stern examination of this squad. Derry have won on their last two visits to the Dublin venue, including a 1-2 victory in April and victory tonight would see City leapfrog John Russell's team into fifth.

The Dubliners have to go back to July 3rd for their last league victory (2-1 vs Dundalk) with two draws and two defeats since then but Russell's busy introduction to the Tolka Park hotseat has also included an excellent European victory over Nõmme Kalju and a creditable display in defeat against Dutch giants, Ajax.

"It's never easy. Shelbourne are a very good team with a very good manager," added Connolly, "I have been watching a lot of their clips over the last few days and they play good football. They've been unlucky not to win some of those (recent) games so we are expecting a difficult game which is always the case down in Tolka.

"We can't just rely on the cup. That is parked now until the semi-final comes around. We have three massive games against Shels, Waterford and then Galway at home so our full focus is on the league and trying to finish as high up as we can.

"We are Derry City, we are not just going to be happy finishing mid-table. We want to finish as high as we can and if it is fourth, that's our target."

Connolly will have Liam Boyce and Kevin dos Santos back in contention for starts after their impressive cameos last week while Ellis Chapman makes his first return to Tolka since his July move to the Brandywell.

"Shelbourne obviously allowed Ellis to come to us and I am happy with that but, listen, any player, when you go back to your old club you always have a point to prove.

"Ellis has been brilliant for us. He's a super lad; a very talented player. We have been playing him in a position, a bit higher up the pitch and you can see the rewards we are getting from that, the rewards he is getting from it. He has a big smile on his face every day and he's really enjoying it.

"I am sure he will have it in the back of his mind to go there and put in a good performance."