Match Preview: Derry City vs Shamrock Rovers - July 16th 2021
SSE Airtricity League Premier Division
Derry City vs Shamrock Rovers
The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium - 7:45pm
Friday July 16th
Rovers return to league action this Friday, as Stephen Bradley's side make the long journey up North to take on a rejuvenated Derry City side at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.
Despite beating Slovan Bratislava 2-1 in Tallaght on Tuesday night, it wasn't enough for Rovers as the Slovakian side progressed to the UEFA Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round thanks to a 3-2 win on aggregate. Derry City come into this Friday's game on the back of a 1-0 defeat against St. Patrick's Athletic last Friday in Richmond Park.
The Hoops remain joint top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division alongside Sligo Rovers and St. Patrick's Athletic - with both Rovers having a game in hand over Stephen O'Donnell's Inchicore side. Derry City currently sit in 6th place in the league.
Speaking to shamrockrovers.ie ahead of this fixture, Stephen Bradley spoke about our positive results against The Candystripes in The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in recent seasons: "We enjoy it, it's a big pitch. We're comfortable on it because we're lucky enough to have a surface very similar in Roadstone which allows us to prepare right for it. We enjoy going up there, but Derry have been very good recently and it won't be an easy going at all. We need to be ready for that".
Ruaidhri Higgins and Paddy McCourt were in attendance in Tallaght Stadium for Shamrock Rovers' game against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday night, and will be hoping for a different performance on Friday by Stephen Bradley's side - a game that will see a limited amount of home supporters in attendance.
Sean Hoare and Chris McCann are both suspended for Rovers trip to Derry, while Neil Farrugia remains absent due to a hamstring injury. Kick-off at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium this Friday is at 7:45pm.
COVERAGE
You can follow the action of this game game on our Twitter account (@TipperaryHoops), where we will provide live-match updates of our clash up North this Friday
To watch the game live, click the following link to purchase a match-pass of the game on loitv.ie: https://www.loitv.ie/en-int/playerpage/737865.
You can also listen to the action live, thanks to the audio described commentary service that the club provides. Phelim Warren is on the mic from 7:30pm. Click the following link to listen to the action: tinyurl.com/radiorovers.