Stephen Kenny celebrates with Barry Molloy after Derry's win

Derry City manager Stephen Kenny heaped praise on his players after they beat Skonto Riga 1-0 at the Brandywell to progress in the Europa League.

Kevin Deery's goal helped Derry win 2-1 on aggregate and set up a clash with CSKA Sofia in the next round.

"The players worked extremely hard. It's such a hard thing to do to win European games," Kenny told BBC Sport.

Derry's win set up a first leg in Sofia next Thursday night with the return to follow at the Brandywell on 6 August.

Kenny picked out Clive Delaney for special mention and he also lauded the vocal contribution of the Derry fans.

"The fans were fantastic. The noise was tremendous. I said to the players:'That's what we can have here'.

"Clive Delaney was a very important player. He's not everyone's cup of tea but I'll tell you what - he makes an awful difference to our back four," added the Derry manager.

We're having a bit of a bad run at the moment so we had to show strength of unity Stephen Kenny

Kenny added that he had been worried that complacency might have gripped Derry fans ahead of the Brandywell tie after last week's 1-1 draw in Riga.

"People were saying locally that 'you should beat Skonto Riga' and that they had no forward players.

"But the player they brought in tonight, Kristaps Blanks, has 18 caps for Latvia.

"It was a tough game. We probably had more chances in Latvia but they are a good side.

"The players worked extremely hard for each other.

"We're having a bit of a bad run (in the League of Ireland) at the moment so we had to show strength of unity."

Kenny added that two smart first-half saves by goalkeeper Gerard Doherty had been "very important" before going on to heap praise on central defender Delaney.

"Clive Delaney marshalled the defence. He hasn't been there recently (because of suspension) and he'll be suspended on Sunday again against Cork.

"But that's part of the challenge and you've got to get on with it."

Goalscorer Kevin Deery shows his delight after the final whistle

Deery's goal wasn't quite of the same vintage as his wonder strike in Europe against Gretna three years ago but Kenny was delighted by the midfielder's contribution.

"We probably rushed Kevin back a little bit. He was out for four weeks and he played on Sunday (against Bohemians).

"He's probably not back to full fitness yet and Barry (Molloy) was out for seven or eight weeks and has come back with three games in a week.

"We're still not at full throttle yet and we looked a little leggy at times but the spirit, intelligence and use the ball was certainly there in the second half."

Kenny is hoping that the European victory will boost his side ahead of Sunday's vital league clash against Cork.

"If we win on Sunday, we'll go ahead of Cork again and if we can win our next two matches, we'll probably go back into second place again.

"Again, we'll be missing players. Stephen Gray, Clive Delaney, Mark McChrystal, Liam Kearney and James McLean, who is struck down with a really bad virus at the moment."

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