Irish Premiership sides facing 'big gap' - Healy

David Healy has been Linfield manager since 2015 while Joey O'Brien took over at Shelbourne in July

Linfield manager David Healy says that the "gap is big" between Irish Premiership sides and their League of Ireland counterparts.

The Blues were knocked out of Europe on Thursday night when they were defeated 5-1 on aggregate by Shelbourne in the Uefa Conference League qualifying play-off.

After coming into the second leg 3-1 up, Shelbourne extended their advantage through Harry Wood in the 23rd minute before Ali Coote doubled the away sides' lead on the night and put the League of Ireland outfit 5-1 ahead on aggerate seven minutes later.

It was the fourth meeting between the sides in the past two months with Shelbourne also knocking the Blues out of the qualifying stages of the Champions League in July.

"The gap is big," Healy replied when asked about the difference between the Irish Premiership and the League of Ireland.

"Did I realise how big it was? I still thought in the first game, there were opportunities and last week was probably our best performance, down to 10 men.

"There were moments in that game that we didn't capitalise on and [Thursday] was certainly our worst performance out of the four games that we played against them and our most disappointing."

Healy's side were hoping to become the second Northern Irish team to progress to the group stages of Europe after Larne made the Conference League last season.

However, it was the Premier Division sides who would make history with two teams qualifying for the league phase for the first time ever.

"Whoever it is in the top six or seven [of the Irish Premiership], you place them in the League of Ireland and it is always a tough question, where are they going to finish?" Healy continued.

"I need not say it is a tough question, it is an even tougher answer because nobody knows, but they were ahead of us tonight.

"It is an incredible night for the Premier Division. The league is doing something right and it is moving in the right direction.

"Larne provided our league with a little bit of inspiration last year, and we just fell a little bit short again this year."

When it comes to ways to bridge the gap, Healy said he was not in a position to discuss the benefits of the Irish Premiership switching to a summer schedule, while he appreciates the difficulties in more sides going to a full-time model.

"Can the opposition at times be a little bit stronger to prepare you in the League of Ireland? Probably.

"I'm understanding that some of the clubs in this league just cannot afford to go full-time. The bottom end could fall out, because a lot of the players are born and bred into this league, they're born and bred into the mentality of part-time football, semi-professional football.

"So, if you start wielding the axe and basically saying everybody has to go full-time, you're going to lose some good players, because financially it's not adequate for them to just be a full-time footballer, when they have a second job, which potentially pays more.

"And then of course, the club situation, how do clubs pay for full-time players, a full-time environment? It's impossible to do that without the help of government bodies, which again, here, it's hard to do."

'I don't think the gap is that big' - O'Brien

However, Shelbourne manager Joey O'Brien does not believe the gulf in class between the leagues is so pronounced.

Shels lifted the Premier Division trophy for the first time since 2006 last season which guaranteed them a European spot.

"If you look at the first leg [in the Conference League], it was 3-1, but was it really a 3-1 game? I don't think so. They were a penalty away from making it 2-2 with 10 men," O'Brien said.

"So, I do not think the gap is that big if I'm being honest.

"[In the second leg], I think first half we probably settled into the game a little bit and maybe we could settle because we were winning 3-1 but I do not think there is a massive gap."

Shelbourne are the second Irish team to qualify for the group stages of the Conference League this year with Premier Division league leaders Shamrock Rovers progressing after a 2-1 aggregate win against Santa Clara in the play-offs.

The draw for the Conference League group stage will take place in Monaco on Friday, following the draw for the Europa League at 12:00 BST.

"I think, over the years, the league has grown," the new Shels manager continued.

"I suppose not many people would have thought five to 10 years ago that you would have two teams in European group football so it's a magical night."