Thursday’s match kicks off at the earlier time slot of 5.45 pm Irish Time. Coverage is available on Virgin Media TWO and BT Sport ESPN


In the Derry game, the only goal came from Rory Gaffney who eventually poked it home but was it all about the run and pass from Andy down the left?

It was a good move. Andy did well down the left, he drove at a few of their players and then was calm enough to pick out Rory, who thankfully got two opportunities to finish it,.

Even with nothing at stake did you feel it was a really good competitive game and was it nice to finish up in Tallaght unbeaten at home for the league season?

It was our aim to stay unbeaten in the League at home, which we achieved, and it was always going to be a good game with a bit of edge, between first and second in the League.

How special a night was it for the players and staff to celebrate with the trophy on the pitch and Josh in particular – is he still smiling from it?

It was an incredible moment for Josh. I said it on the night, and I’ll repeat my thanks to the fans for respecting it, and allowing him to have the moment. It was a special night, everyone has been sending him pictures and videos, it was a night that he will never forget.

Did everyone enjoy their night on Sunday afterward with friends and family as well before focusing on the next game again?

I felt that it was important that we celebrated. We have won three in a row, that’s not done very often, and we haven’t had a chance to celebrate as we did on Sunday. It was important that we did that before refocusing and getting ready for a difficult game.

Rovers are the only team to take points off Djurgardens in this group and looking back at that scoreless draw in September, it could very well have been three points against a top-quality side?

We had chances to win the game. We felt that we could have won it, but Djurgardens will be a different proposition in this stadium on their home pitch. We know that it is a difficult game, but we don’t have to save ourselves for anything, we can have a right go at the game.

You’ve spoken about wanting to bring our home form into the away games, and although we’re out of contention is there a lot of motivation to come here and end the campaign with a result and a better points tally?

Of course. If we win tomorrow, we’ve got a good points tally. The experience will stand to us for future years, it’s an important game for us.

This group has gone to Sweden before in 2018, played well, and won in 90 minutes. Can we draw a little on that good experience?

Djurgarden are a different team, they play a different style. They have proven themselves to be the best team in the group. We know that it is a difficult game, but we will try to take our home European form to an away match.

This is our 53rd game this year, the 14th in Europe with over 34,000km traveled. So it’s been a long season and does that naturally take a toll on you?

It does. You can look at the injuries that we have had along the way, it takes its toll. But this is where we want to be, playing every few days. The experiences this year will make us a stronger and better team.

In terms of suspensions are we missing Justin Ferizaj and Sean Kavanagh, and are there any injuries?

Justin and Sean are suspended. There are a few injuries, and we will be down three or four tomorrow, but we have been like that for quite some time now, the group has dealt with that very well and it will be no different tomorrow.