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The Candystripes fell to a 2-0 defeat at the Brandywell in a game where the Belarusians were always in control.
Goalkeeper Gerard Doherty made a number of fine saves while Conor McDermott was dismissed late on, but Shiels says he has no quibbles over the result.
A very small crowd watched the game as fans stayed away in their droves in a row over the £25 ticket prices.
“It epitomised our misfortune losing Rory Hale in the first minute and losing a goal in the first minute,” Shiels told RTÉ Sport.
“It put us on the backfoot straight away. Obviously they were the better team, we can’t deny that because we didn’t hurt them in any shape or form.
“We were more hopeful than we were creative. We worked really hard against a stronger opponent. The boys did as best they could.”
Asked whether the dismissal had any impact on the outcome, Shiels said: “We weren’t going to win the game anyway. That was quite obvious.”
Fans stayed away from the Europa League in a row over the £25 ticket prices
“We have a lot of work to do over the weekend to get ourselves prepared from travelling Tuesday onwards, with the game on Thursday.
“We have to step up more for the away leg. We can’t be negative. We have to go there with a plan. If we could win the first-half, anything can happen. We will see how that goes.”
MATCH REPORT: DERRY CITY 0 V 2 DINAMO MINSK
DINAMO Minsk got off to the perfect start as they took the lead after just two minutes as Derry were at sixes and sevens when Artsem Hurenka’s right wing cross fell Nino Galovic at the back post and the skipper blasted home past Gerard Doherty.
With their tails up the visitors were inches away from adding a second on 13 minutes as striker Uladzimir Khvashchynski saw his powerful header outstandingly tipped over by Doherty.
Derry slowly got to grips with things and they had their first effort in anger on 20 minutes but substitute Ronan Hale, who replaced his brother Rory after just five minutes, saw his over-head kick sail over the bar.
The Brandywell men werre inches away from levelling things on 48 minutes as Conor McDermott’s run and cross down the left was inches away from picking out and unmarked Ronan Hale, but the ball fizzed just over the substitute’s head.
On the hour mark Derry made a change as they looked to get back into the first leg clash with Rory Patterson coming off the bench replacing Ally Roy.
Unfortunately it was the visitors who went close to adding a second when Anton Saroka but his close range strike was gathered at the second attempt by a backtracking Doherty, after the keeper had nearly seen the initial strike sneak under his body.
Minutes later Minsk did net a second as substitute Pilip Ivanou easily skipped away from Darren Cole and raced into the box, before unselfishly cutting the ball back to an unmarked Uladzimir Khvashchynski, who calmly slotted the ball into the empty net.
Derry’s disappointing night got worse on 81 minutes as Conor McDermott was sent-off for a second bookable offence after he upended Uros Nikolic.
On 84 minutes Doherty had to make another top draw save as he kept out Saroka’s stinging 20-yard drive was parried around the post by the Derry net-minder.
Derry City: Gerard Doherty, Jamie McDonagh, Darren Cole, Danny Seaborne, Conor McDermott; Aaron Splaine, Rory Hale (Ronan Hale 5); Dean Shiels, Aaron McEneff, Ben Fisk (Gavin Peers 78); Ally Roy (Rory Patterson 60).
Dinamo Minsk: Andrei Harbunou, Nino Galovic, Yury Astraukh (Raman Behunou 78), Seidu Yahaya, Mikita Kaplenka (Pilip Ivanou 29), Uros Nikolic, Anton Saroka, Makism Zhaunerchyk, Uladzimir Khvashchynski (Artsem Salevi 66), Artsem Hurenka, Shvetsou Maksim.
Referee: Nikola Popov (Bulgaria)
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