Insert - minimum fireplace openings

Hello, a newbie here! Question, the height of the the opening in my prefab fireplace is pretty much the same height as the damper opening. Meaning the top of my fireplace is flush with the damper opening. The height is 20" (small I know!). I'm looking at an insert stove that is 19 and 3/4 inches in height. Basically, once the stove is in place, there will only be 1/4 inch between the opening at the top of the woodstove and the damper opening. I'm not sure how these can be connected (from inside the stove?) and I'm wondering if this is even doable with that limited amount of room.

Any takers? If it's not going to work then I'll have to go with a smaller stove.

Thanks!
Tynman

Thank you for the response. My concern is that the fireplace opening is 20" and the damper height is 20" (basically, they are part of the same top metal piece on the fireplace). I'm wondering how in the world it's possible to connect at stove that's 19 and 3/4 inches in height (the height of the stove I'm looking at) into a 20"opening. Looks like there would only be 1/4 inche between the opening at the top of the woodstove and the damper on the fireplace.

Maybe I'm missing something here... I've attached a photo to show what I'm talking about.