King Kenny rallies his troops for ‘game of their lives’
DUNDALK manager Stephen Kenny has called on his players to produce the ‘game of their lives’ in Iceland on Wednesday to secure their passage into the third qualifying round of the Champions League.
The League of Ireland champions left for Reykjavik this morning (Tuesday) ahead of Wednesday night’s second leg tie with FH Hafnarfjordur in the Kaplakriki.
After last week’s 1-1 draw in Oriel Park, Dundalk know they must at least score to book their place in the next round against either the side who beat them at this stage last year, BATE Borisov, or Finland’s SJK but that’s a challenge that isn’t daunting to the Lilywhites boss.
He told The Argus on Monday that his side are going to Iceland to win the game and insists there were no ‘grey areas’ for his team following the setback of former Dundalk player Steven Lennon’s 77th minute equaliser in last week’s first leg.
That goal puts FH in the driving seat but Kenny insists that past away performances in Europe, particularly the 2-1 victory over Hajduk Split in 2014, gave him confidence of turning things around.
‘We have to take confidence from that,’ the manager said when asked about previous European away days.
‘Make no mistake about it, we are going there to win.
‘There’s no grey areas for us. We have to score and we have to win.
‘Obviously we’d have preferred not to have conceded that late goal last week but it just means we have to do it the hard way. We will have to give the game of our lives but it’s not beyond us,’ he said.
Dundalk are expecting to have leading goalscorer David McMillan available for the game, which will be shown live on eirSport, formerly Setanta Sports at 8.15pm Irish time on Wednesday.
The scorer from last week’s first leg sat out training over the weekend as a precaution over a tight thigh muscle but Kenny insists he ‘should be fine’.
Centre back Brian Gartland will miss the game, however, having broken his wrist in the opening quarter of last week’s first leg following an awkward fall in the opposition area.
The 29-year-old is expected to be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks with Kenny confirming to The Argus that Paddy Barrett would come into the side in his place.
‘Paddy will play, there’s no question about that,’ said Kenny.
‘He’s a player I have every faith in but he’s just had to be patient in terms of getting his chance.
‘People forget though that he was in the team the night we won the league away to Shamrock Rovers and he also scores in the FAI Cup quarter-final and semi-final last year so he is a player who definitely has a goal in him.
‘His range of passing is also very good. He might not have Brian’s experience but I’ve no qualms about putting him in. He has been waiting a while for his opportunity and he is well capable of stepping up now.’
FH were also dealt a blow at the weekend when former Atli Gudnason, who forced a fine stop from Gary Rogers in last week’s first leg at Oriel Park, was stretchered off late on in their 1-1 draw with IBV Vestmannaeyjar – a game in which Heimer Gudjonsson’s side rested five of the team who started at Oriel Park including centre back Kassim Doumbia, midfielders Emil Palsson and Bjarni Thór Vidarsson, forward Thorainn Ingi Valdimarsson and goalscorer Steven Lennon.
Kenny, who last Friday joined Newcastle Utd boss Rafa Benitez at their training camp in Carton House, insists he is more concerned about his own team though.
‘He may not have played anyway,’ the manager said of the 31-year-old Gudnason’s injury.
‘He’s one of the players they tend to rotate but they also rested a good few at the weekend.
‘From our point of view though we’re just full focused on ourselves.
‘On reviewing the first leg again we played well in spells. It was a scrappy game for the most part but they made it scrappy. They won a lot of free kicks at both ends from goal kicks and the officiating was quite scrappy but if Wednesday night is a more open game then that will suit us.’
While a win in Iceland would set Dundalk up for a €1.2 million pay day and likely earn them another crack at a BATE Borisov side who they lost to 2-1 on aggregate last year, Kenny insists Dundalk need no extra motivation to advance to face the Belarusians, who lead SJK 2-0 from their own respective first leg last week.
‘It’s not a factor for us but we do want to go through obviously,’ he said when asked about the prospect of a return trip to the Borisov Arena next Tuesday.
‘The main thing is knowing it’s a free game against them because if we win that we’re in the fourth qualifying round of the Champions League but even if we lose we’re in the Europa League play-offs.
‘It’s a great incentive but it doesn’t add to what we’re trying to do this week at all. We’re only fully focused on beating FH,’ said Kenny.
Talking to the media last Wednesday night after the 1-1 draw at Oriel Park, the manager said his side were kicking himself not to have seen the first leg out with a win following David McMillan’s 66th minute opener.
‘Obviously to take the lead and then to concede in the manner that we did, we’re disappointed with that,’ he said.
‘It was a great goal we scored. Sean Gannon played a great pass to Patrick McEleney and it was a terrific cross and a great finish from David McMillan. We didn’t look under any threat at that stage really so to concede the goal we did, we’re kicking ourselves really.’
Kenny said he had no fears over his side’s capability of scoring in the second leg though.
‘I think in our three previous Eu- ropean games that we’ve played we’ve managed to score five goals away from home. It is only half-time.
‘Coming off the pitch all our players felt like it was a defeat but it is only half-time and it’s 1-1. There’s a week until next Wednesday and the players will understand that even more by then and we’ll make sure we’re ready to go next week.
‘The match wasn’t a classic. They were difficult to break down but they went quite direct to Vidarsson, their number 13, and he was very strong in the air. They tried to work it that way and that was their game plan as such.
‘Obviously they’re a good team but I think we can play better as well. We can improve next week. There was some good patches of play from us and at other times it was just okay so I think there’s room for improvement overall
with ourselves so hopefully we can put in a strong performance next week.
‘It’s clear for us now. We have to go and be positive and score and we have to go win the game away from home. There’s no grey areas from our point of view.
‘It’s a tough ask because going away in Europe is hard but we’ve shown a capacity to score goals away from home and we’ve got to do it now. We’re obviously kicking ourselves that we conceded but that’s the way it goes. There’s nothing we can do about it now but the fact we have 90 minutes to retrieve it is a good position to be in. It’s not the worst position. It’s still only 1-1 at half-time and we’ll go again,’ said the manager.
Should Dundalk progress they would be away to either BATE Borisov or SJK on Tuesday July 26th with the return leg in Oriel Park on either August 2nd or 3rd.