Finn Harps might be two points above the drop zone and have games in hand on their relegation rivals, but boss Ollie Horgan says the survival scrap will go to the wire.
Harps host north-west derby foes Derry City on Monday night in Ballybofey knowing that a win would lift them into seventh position.
However, Horgan is certainly not getting carried away. Danny Morrissey and Ethan Boyle will miss the game and, with a dozen games to go, the Harps manager says nothing has changed in terms of what Harps have to do.
“I don’t think anyone will be safe until the last game of the season,” Horgan said.
“It will go right to the bitter end of it. I hope that is where it goes. We have a difficult run. We are going to be in a battle. Nothing has changed in that regard.”
Harps have 24 points now ahead of games against Derry and Bray this week, but Horgan was minded to go back to last season and a similar figure before the run-in.
Horgan pointed out: “We sat on 24 points for about three months last season. That might be an exaggeration but it’s not far off it. We beat Galway in Ballybofey a year ago last Friday and we sat on that 24 points. No-one knew what was ahead of us. We didn’t score for eight games. We got out of it, but it took a while.”
Last night, Barry McNamee’s goal gave Derry a 1-0 win over Bohemians that takes them into third in the standings.
Although Harps have a good record in derbies in the last two seasons, Horgan noted the ease with which Derry had won 5-0 in Ballybofey last season and said: “It will be a huge ask to get anything out of it. It was a difficult place to be last year when they outplayed us. The only thing we’re hoping is that they don’t reach that level, but there are huge margins to close.”
Listen to the full interview below …
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