Shelbourne boss Damien Duff says his side are good enough to take on anyone in the Premier Division and believes they deserved three points against Shamrock Rovers on Friday night.

For the second successive trip to Tallaght Stadium, Duff’s side let a lead slip against the champions, as Roberto Lopes’ 77th minute header levelled it at 2-2 and saw the points shared in the Ringsend derby.

Duff considers the result as two points dropped, after Matty Smith’s strike had Shels 2-0 up in the second half, but lauded his side’s performance as they held the champions to a third draw in their last four meetings.

“We showed we are a good team, have top players and that we can take the game to anyone in the league,” said Duff.

“The really pleasing thing is we took the game to them with the ball. I know Stephen (Bradley) said in the press that we play in a low-block. We don’t.

"When Rovers have the best players, more often than not you end up defending the 18-yard box because they build the game and get up the pitch. It’s one of the things we are about, intensity with and without the ball.

“We absolutely dropped two points, I think we deserved to win. I guess in the context of the game, away at Rovers, the best team, we played brilliantly well, deserved to be in front and deserved to win the game. They were poor, did we play a part in making them look poor, who knows?”

“Yeah they had a lot of the ball but I thought we looked the more dangerous and had the better chances, even the one at the end where we need to be arriving at the back post,” added Duff, as Smith missed a golden chance to make it 3-1 before Lopes’ leveller.

Duff reflected on Graham Burke’s spectacular strike which pulled one back for the hosts, and admits his disappointment on leaving Dublin 24 again without a win, after last October’s 3-2 defeat to Rovers.

“Especially when you are 2-0 up, Burkey’s goal is a big goal, got the crowd up and got them back in the game,” said Duff.

“Two points dropped for sure but the big positive is, we’re still a new team, newly promoted five rounds of games ago, and it’s the second time we have come away from Tallaght Stadium disappointed we didn’t get the win.

“Listen, that’s the quality you're up against. They are the best team, that’s a fact. They have the best squad, best budget, everything. 25 yards out, Burke is alive because his left foot is a joke. What can you do?.”