DAMIEN DUFF and Ruaidhrí Higgins insisted it remains a three-horse race for the title — with both certain no one should discount Shamrock Rovers. Top two Shelbourne and Derry City drew 0-0 at Tolka Park on Monday night , a result that maintains Shels’ three-point lead. Yet while the game was billed as a title six-pointer, both gaffers warned that Rovers are not out of it as they continue to look for a fifth league crown in a row.
The Hoops are 11 points behind Duff’s Shelbourne with a game in hand, and eight adrift of Higgins’ Derry with two fewer matches played. If they win their games in hand and beat Shelbourne and Derry in their remaining fixtures, they would actually go ahead of the Candystripes and trail their fellow Dubliners by just five points. And Duff reckons the Hoops and Stephen Bradley will be happy to be ignored in the title talk.
He said: “Everyone keeps talking about Derry and us but I never thought Rovers were out of it, regardless of ten, 12 points. “Brilliant team, brilliant players, brilliant manager. Everything about them is brilliant.
"They’ve been going along nicely and they’ll be happy that nobody is talking about them. "I’m not stupid, they are absolutely in it.” Higgins agreed, saying: “They’re not out of it.
"One hundred per cent they’re involved in it because I’ve no doubt they’ve got the quality to string a load of wins together. “I’m not just firing it out there for the craic, I genuinely believe they’re in .