Derry City boss Ruaidhri Higgins congratulated Shamrock Rovers on their title win - but warned the Hoops to enjoy it while it lasts.
Rovers were crowned champions for the third year in a row after the Candystripes failed to win away to Sligo Rovers.
The FAI Cup finalists were held to a frustrating scoreless draw at the Showgrounds that means Sunday’s top two showdown in Tallaght is no longer a key title race battle.
Shamrock Rovers will be awarded the league trophy after that game and Higgins said: “I’m very disappointed as we wanted to go down there and keep it interesting.
“That’s what we wanted from Friday and Monday - let’s go down to Tallaght with something to play for but congratulations to them.
“They’ve been the most consistent team. People have said that they’ve sort of stumbled the last while but if you actually look at the form guide, they haven’t really.
“They’ve had a couple of draws but they’ve won the majority of games. But we know we’re getting closer.
“The head-to-heads between us, we’ve been very, very good in and I think they know we’re getting closer as well.
“It’s important we go down there on Sunday and show the level of performance we’re capable of.”
Derry are unbeaten in the league since May but they hit a major stumbling block just before that after failing to win in seven.
Higgins - who has an FAI Cup final against Shelbourne to come - knows it cost them a real title shot
And he admits that his team were not ruthless enough when it mattered most.
Higgins said: “We’ve mainly been guilty of that for large chunks of the season.
“Even in games where we were winning and created chances to really put teams away we maybe haven’t done it.
“It’s something we can get better at and we know that. There’s a lot of scope for improvement with this squad.
“We’re only going to get better. We look forward to what the future brings. I'm really excited about next year and giving it a real push to go one better.”
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