N-Ice draw for Kenny’s troops in Europe?
SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE
DUNDALK manager Stephen Kenny insists his side face ‘ a trip into the unknown’ having been paired with Icelandic champions FH Hafnarfjarðar in Monday’s Champions League draw.
The two sides will go head to head in Oriel Park on July 12th or 13th before the return leg in Iceland on Wednesday July 20th.
While the Lilywhites will be out to secure a victory that would guarantee them at least another four matches in Europe, Kenny insists he knows little about the opposition – yet.
‘Icelandic football is on the rise and FH have had some good results in recent years in Europe,’ he said.
‘They’ve beat FK Karanus and SJK from Finland last year and they’ve won their league seven out of 12 years so they’re quite dominant.
‘It’s an interesting tie. It’s a trip into the unknown at the moment and we’re just trying to find out as much as we can about them. We’ve got to make sure we’re well prepared. We want to go into that game in good form and that has to be our ambition now.
‘We’ll have them well watched and I’m just planning that at the moment. It’s something that we absolutely will organise,’ he said.
The pairing with FH Hafnarfjarðar was arguably the pick of the bunch for Dundalk given the fact they have a lower UEFA co-efficient than the other seeded teams that the Lilywhites could have been drawn with. That list included last year’s opponents BATE Borisov, Scottish champions Celtic or one from FC Copenhagen, Red Star Belgrade or Rosenborg.
Kenny insists that Heimir Guðjónsson’s side will deservedly start the tie as red hot favourites though.
‘It’s an opportunity but they see it as an opportunity as well but hopefully we can do well.
‘They’re the seeded team. Their co-efficient is higher than ours and they’re seeded for a reason because they’ve had good results.
‘I want to believe they were happy to get us so it’s an interesting game and one that we’re excited about. The motivation is high knowing that we’ll get another two full rounds if we win. It would guarantee us six European games at the minimum so hopefully we can prepare well and do well here in Oriel Park first. It’ll be a special European night here.’
Unlike last year, Dundalk will be at home for the first leg and after his side’s experience against Hajduk Split in 2014, Kenny knows how important it will be to keep things tight at Oriel Park.
‘I don’t know if it’s an advantage or disadvantage to be at home first,’ he said.
‘We lost to Hajduk Split a couple of years ago 2-0 in the first tie and then they won 3-2 on aggregate but I think we learned lessons from that. It shows the importance of clean sheets in the home tie.’
The return leg will follow in Iceland on July 20th, with the club currently looking into the possibility of a chartered flight to the game.
‘I think the board are exploring all those avenues now at the moment,’ Kenny told The Argus on Monday night.
‘We’ll have to discuss all that. I’m happy to go on the Monday or on a chartered flight on the Tuesday once it was an early flight.’
Before Dundalk can fully focus on FH though, there’s the small matter of three league matches in between, starting with Friday night’s visit of St Patrick’s Athletic to Oriel Park (kick-off 7.45pm).
After the defeat to Cork City before the break, Kenny is confident his side can bounce back in style with a win over Liam Buckley’s men.
‘We were disappointed to lose to Cork a couple of weeks ago so we’ve got to bounce back now against St Pat’s.
‘We’ve had some outstanding performances against them but they’re a team capable of outpassing you if you back off them. They can pass it around you. You know you’re going to get a tough game because they’ve got a good forward line so we have to make sure we’re hungry and play well.’
Kenny admitted the period in and around Europe was a potential bananaskin but reiterated his desire to see his side go into their Champions League matches on a winning run.
‘It’s a tough period, there’s no doubt. It takes a lot out of you physically but we’re in a great position and we just want to focus on winning the matches ahead. They’re tough matches against Pat’s and Derry but we have to bounce back and try to win the games.’
Chris Shields will be suspend- ed for Friday night’s game after picking up a red card in Turner’s Cross last time out while Ciaran O’Connor is still a few weeks away from a return to action despite a return to first-team training during last week’s camp in Portugal.
One man Kenny is hopeful of seeing plenty more of in the second half of the season is Patrick McEleney, who has been in and out of the side with injury since arriving from Derry City at the start of the season.
‘It’s about keeping him fit,’ said the manager.
‘We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves because it is a challenge. He has broken down a couple of times. He has been unfortunate but he’s a very talented player and a good person. He works hard for the team and is very, very instinctive and creative.
‘We need to keep him fit and keep playing as well as we can.’