Lilywhites will need to produce one of the great performances

EUROPA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

DUNDALK manager Stephen Kenny believes his side will need to produce ‘one of the great European performances of any team’ in order to overcome Rosenborg in the Lerkandal Stadion on Wednesday night to set up a dream clash with Celtic in the next round of the Champions League.

It’s familiar territory for the Lilywhites following last week’s 1-1 draw in the first leg at Oriel Park.

This time last year Dundalk had also drawn 1-1 with FH Hafnarfjordur and travelled to Iceland knowing they needed to at least score to keep their European dreams alive. The side will take solace from the fact they overcame the setback of conceding early on that occasion to advance on away goals following a 2-2 draw.

However, Kenny insists that Rosenborg are a step up on FH and believes his side will have the produce the ‘game of our lives’ to advance to the third qualifying round.

‘We’ve been here before but Rosenborg are a step up on FH,’ he said.

‘They will have 20,000 in their stadium and they will probably up things from the first leg.

‘It’s a real, real challenge for us now and we’ll have to produce one of the great European performances of any team to advance.’

That said, Kenny is well aware that his side are capable of raising the bar.

‘I was really pleased with the performance of the players in the first leg,’ he said.

‘For them to go up against a team as highly ranked as Rosenborg and outplay them for long periods of the game was fantastic.

‘We were disappointed with the goal we conceded but that’s something we have to live with. When they got that they were able to sit in a little and make it difficult for us but I do think we’ll get chances over there.

‘It’s still all to play for.

‘It’s a tough task, of course, because their home record is very good but we have a huge incentive to get through and our motivation is very high.

‘All of the players will have to play the game of their lives and it would be one of the greatest results in the history of Irish sides playing in Europe if we do it,’ said Kenny.

The fact that Tore Reginiussen was able to cancel out David McMillan’s opener just before half-time in the first leg means Rosenborg hold the advantage because of the away goal rule heading into the match in Trondheim.

That said, Kenny is confident his side can create chances and the stats back up their ability to score away from home in Europe. In his nine European away games in charge of Dundalk to date, the Lilywhites have only failed to score once - away to BATE Borisov last season. By contrast, they haven’t scored on four occasions in their 10 home games. They have also scored more away from home (11) and at home (10).

The Dundalk boss insists his side will take heart from that in Trondheim.

‘We have to score but the good thing is we’re not relying on any one player to do that. We have goals throughout the team but it will have to be an extraordinary performance from us to get through.

‘I think the away goal only becomes relevant if it’s 0-0 but our games rarely finish 0-0 so it’s not something we’re massively focused on,’ he said.

While Kenny did not overly want to focus on a potential meeting with Celtic, or Linfield if they can somehow turn around a 2-0 first leg deficit at Celtic Park, he admitted it was an extra incentive for the players to get past Rosenborg.

‘It is very attractive of course but regardless of who we were drawn against it was always going to be attractive to get into and play in that round because it gives you two shots at the group stages.

‘What we’ve got to do now is put in one of the best performances any Irish team has ever produced.

‘We are capable of scoring but we’ve gone to more hostile places like Split and Warsaw and scored and also scored in the likes of St Petersburg and Tel Aviv so the players will have learned a lot from that.

‘It’s still all to play for,’ he said. Kenny said defender Niclas Vemmelund, who limped out of the first leg last week, ‘has a chance’ of playing with a decision to be made on his potential involvement before kick-off. First leg goalscorer David McMillan also sat out training at Oriel Park on Saturday but did return to the fold when the side trained at Abbotstown on Sunday. Otherwise, Dundalk have a fully fit squad to choose from.

Wednesday’s game kicks-off at 6.15pm Irish time and is live on RTÉ Two. DUNDALK Golf Club’s Caolan Rafferty super season continued last week in the North of Ireland Championship at Royal Portrush.

He won the silver medal for leading qualifier and then battled through four rounds of matchplay before losing in the semi-final to Irish international Colin Fairweather from Knock Golf Club.

The 24-year-old carded a bogey free, course record 65, on the newly redesigned Dunluce Links to lead home a field of 300, of whom 120 were plus handicappers, in the qualifying round.

He had posted a 68 in the first round over The Valley course and finished on 10 under par. Rafferty’s record round included birdies at the second and ninth and then he started his back nine with three birdies in a row before birding 15 and 17 and signing for a 65.

It was a second course record for Rafferty in less than a month as he also set a new low score at The Prince’s in England on his way to taking the silver medal for leading qualifier at the British