Daniel Kelly admits Dundalk are disappointed after missing out on the chance to face Scottish champions Celtic in a friendly this weekend.
The League of Ireland kingpins had hoped restrictions would have eased by Saturday but given they would have had to quarantine for 14 days after coming back, Derry City - who don't have to isolate if returning to Northern Ireland from Britain, now look set to face Neil Lennon's side at Parkhead instead.
"We were scheduled to play them on Saturday but the restrictions obviously didn't allow us," Kelly told RTÉ Sport at the launch of the league's new streaming platform WatchLOI.
"So I think Derry have actually nipped in and they have the chance now to play them on Saturday, which is great for them.
"We probably won’t get the chance to play them again now, unless we draw them in the Champions League or something.
"It would have been a great experience but we wouldn’t have been able to go anyway, which is unfortunate."
The Lilywhites could yet meet the nine-in-a-row Scottish Premiership winners as both sides are in the hat of the first-round draw (9 August) for the Champions League.
An estimated 17,000 were in Oriel Park when Dundalk held Celtic to a 0-0 draw in the 1979/80 European Cup, Celtic going through 3-2 on aggregrate.
Dundalk reached the second qualifying round last year but Kelly hopes that this year's pandemic-altered format of one-leg ties (until the play-off round) could work to their advantage.
"The Champions League is the one everybody looks forward to, the European games," the winger said.
"It’s only one game this year so, if you get a bit of luck in the draw, you don’t know where you could end up.
"Hopefully we can go one better this time."
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Before their European adventures begin on 18/19 August, however, there is the matter of a three-in-a-row SSE Airtricity Premier Division title chase.
Dundalk resume the abbreviated campaign against St Patrick's Athletic on Friday week (Live on RTÉ2), lying three points behind leaders Shamrock Rovers.
"The league is the bread and butter," said Kelly. "We won't be in the Champions League next year if we don't win the league.
"We want to win the league. That's the main priority and if we do well in Europe, then that’s fantastic.
"The league is usually a marathon but this time, with all the stuff that's going on this year, it’s a bit of a sprint.
"There are a lot of teams that can win the league this year. You just need to go on a little run and when you go on a run in this league it’s hard to stop you.
"We need to get going in the league straight away, we want to kick off with another win straight away."
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