‘We can rise to the occasion again’ - Kenny
DUNDALK manager Stephen Kenny insists his side are ‘underprepared’ for Thursday’s Europa League Group D opener away to AZ Alkmaar (kick-off 6pm, live on eir Sport) but has backed his players to give it ‘a right go’ against the Dutch side.
A run of six matches in the space of 17 days, culminating in Monday night’s 2-0 victory over Finn Harps, has meant that Kenny will only get to discuss the Eredivisie side with his players for the first time this evening (Tuesday) when they meet to work on video analysis at the City North Hotel.
Dundalk’s hectic schedule of late is in complete contrast to their Champions League qualifiers last month when they had a week to prepare for games agains BATE Borisov and Legia Warsaw.
While the manager admitted to The Argus on Monday night that preparations are ‘not to my liking’, he feels his players can rise to the occasion once more when they take to the field against John van den Brom’s side on Thursday.
‘We’ve no time really to prepare for this unlike the other games. Our preparations will be not to my liking,’ he said.
‘I think we’ll be underprepared because of the three day turnaround and the lack of opportunity to do anything on them but that’s the nature of it.
‘What we have to do is get into the stadium and be inspired by the crowd and absolutely give it a right go and try and get a result.
‘We’ve shown a real capacity to rise to the occasion and play teams that are ranked miles ahead of us.
‘To do that you have to scale incredible heights. People don’t realise how much you have to lift your game and tactically you’ve got to be very well prepared and astute. All the players have to be tactically very aware.
‘The players will be motivated. They’ve a great desire to go and do well. It’s a great occasion for the club to be in the Europa League group stages. We should be very proud of that.
‘It’s special times and we’ve another big day on Thursday. It’s a step up for us but we’ve consistently shown that we can rise to the occasion.
‘It’s a quick turnaround. They played last Saturday, we played Monday. We’ve no time to prepare and we’ve got to travel but that’s the way it is and we’ll have a right go at it,’ he said.
While some of his players have discussed trying to get out of a group that also involves Zenit St Petersburg and Maccabi Tel Aviv, Kenny said getting points on the board was his first ambition.
‘The ambition is to get a result first and foremost and get some points. That’s the first ambition.
‘We’ve a real tough task in that regard though because AZ Alkmaar won their last two league games quite easily. They were both 2-0 victories but they were very comfortable in both games. We watched them against NEC two weeks ago and they were very dominant so it’ll be a very tough game for us but one in which we’ll give everything of ourselves.
‘Ron Vlaar is their centre half. Two years ago he played in the World Cup semi-final. He’s a commanding centre back. They have two big commanding centre backs and two small attacking full backs. They’ve a Belgian midfield player and some very quick attacking players.
‘Freddy Friday is their centre forward and they’ve got an Iranian right winger and Dos Santos, a flying left winger who has been capped by the Verde Islands but came through Holland’s system. Van Overeem plays in that advanced position behind the striker.
‘They’re a good team. They have won the league in recent seasons, finishing above Ajax and PSV Eindhoven so we’re going out there and people are thinking the teams are evenly matched but they’re Eredivisie winners so we’ve a real tough game on our hands.’
Kenny said his side would give it their best regardless of the result
‘You can have possession but they can hit you on the counter attack with their pace so we’ve got to make sure that we’re aware of that and we can deal with that but there’s no point in being fearful. I think you’ve got to be brave and courageous like we have been consistently in Europe.
‘We’ve shown a capacity to dominate possession in games. Bar BATE Borisov away, in all the other games we’ve been in the ascendancy possession-wise so I think we must strive to do that again. We’ll get ourselves ready and prepare the best we can.’
Ciaran O’Connor won’t be making the trip to Holland after suffering bad bruising to his hip in the FAI Cup win over UCD on Friday night while Darren Meenan is also a doubt with a groin problem.
While Kenny would have liked to be better prepared, he admitted he couldn’t have asked for more from his side since they lost out on a place in the Champions League to Legia Warsaw last month.
‘The Finn Harps game was our sixth win in 17 days or something so you can’t ask for any more really,’ he said. ‘We’ve only conceded one goal in that time too, Kurtis Byrne’s brilliant strike against us.
‘We came off the plane from Poland disappointed having gone out of the Champions League, having been on the verge of something quite extraordinary and we had to get on the bus to go to Wexford.
‘If we had said we were going to win the next six games, every three days, then you’d have been more than pleased. It has been a terrific effort to win in Wexford, Dalymount, Sligo and against Finn Harps here, as well as the two FAI Cup games. It’s a good response.’
With a packed schedule on the horizon, Kenny admitted he would have to utilise his squad as much as possible in the weeks ahead.
‘We’re going to need everyone,’
said the manager. ‘There has never been a run of games like this for any team. It’s an extraordinary season but we’ve got to work hard.
‘We might be 10 points clear at the top of the table but I really just view it as a four point lead because Cork have two games in hand.
‘We have two tough games when we come back from Holland where your lead could easily dissipate if you weren’t at your best against Shamrock Rovers and Derry so they’re two massive games. We’ve got a big challenge on our hands to win the league and the FAI Cup and try to get some points against teams that are ranked massively above us in Europe,’ said Kenny.