No Distractions: Duff Puts Europe Talk on Hold | OneFootball

Tolka Park takes centre stage for the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division clash between the Champions and one of last season’s title rivals Derry City (7:45pm – live on LOITV)

The Reds fine-tuned preparations with a final training session at the AUL earlier today. Damien Duff told ShelbourneFC.ie that he has a full squad to choose from for the visit of the Candystripes:

“Kerr is back, JJ is OK after Monday, everyone’s fit, it’s a full squad. They’ve shown what it means to be good pros, really professional with their recovery. That’s the beauty of three games in a week, if you get the recovery right, you reap the rewards on the pitch. Even today in training, we had no niggles, no soreness, no fatigue.”

The Reds bounce into tomorrow night after a win on Monday against St Pats, Duff though is quick to park and move on: “Don’t get too carried away when it’s going well, don’t get too down when it’s not. We have another game tomorrow, a tough one, but one we’ve prepped for and we’re ready to rock.”

“We haven’t spoken about Europe. Out of interest, I watched about 10 minutes of Linfield on the night of the draw, but outside of that, it’s been Derry every minute of every day since. I’m sure the players are in the same mindset. We showed the tape this morning for Derry, that’s all we spoke about. Linfield should be at the very back of the mind for every player, if it’s even there at all.”

This is the third meeting between the sides this season, the Reds were comfortable 3-1 winners on opening night, while they suffered defeat 2-0 in the Brandywell after that. Duff feels both sides might approach the game with their own points to prove: “Up there, I don’t think we had an edge, we lacked it and when that’s missing from us, it takes a lot away. We thought our football would roll them over. That was misguided confidence, and obviously that’s on me. Maybe it came from me. We won’t make that mistake again. Needless to say, against every team, the way they play, the physicality they have, you need edge and energy, and you need to get about and move the ball around the pitch. I expect to see that tomorrow.”

With fans on cloud nine ahead of an exciting few weeks as the club prepares to embark on a European adventure, Duff has a word of warning for players:

“Your league form is what gets you to Europe. Don’t take your eye off that. The lads need to realise they have to be on form individually to be in contention to start or play in Europe. That’s very different to just being motivated by the occasion, it has to be collective, and it has to carry, build the form, attack the league, take that to Europe.

“We spoke about that break being a bit of a reset and a chance to draw a line under what’s come before. Granted, it started with a poor result against Rovers, but the lads are in a good place mentally. There’s brilliant togetherness in the dressing room, as you’d expect, and more importantly, there’s belief. How can you not be excited with the games we have coming up?”