ROVERS HEADING ON EURO ODYSSEY
Rovers set out on Euro adventure in confident mood
SLIGO ROVERS set out on their latest European adventure today.
Manager John Coleman and his squad left this morning for Thursday’s crunch Europa League first round, first leg, tie with FK Banga of Lithuania.
Coleman said: “This is a big, big game for us. “We’re going there to win.” The Rovers travelling party flew in two separate groups from Knock to Stansted and Luton Airports before departing for the city of Kaunas for an overnight stay.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, they will move to Klaipeda, a city approximately 15k from the home of Banga in the coastal city of Gargzdai.
The players will train at the FK Banga stadium, which features an all- weather synthetic pitch, at 6pm local time, kick- off time on Thursday.
The Rovers manager said: “I’ve watched some videos of them since the draw was made. They are not a bad side.
“They vary their formation from 4- 4- 2 to 4- 2- 3- 1, so we’ll just have to wait and see what they do on the night.”
Coleman gave fitness tests to a number of players on Monday. He has said defender Alan Keane could play some part against FK Banga.
Evan McMillan and Eric Odhiambo are available after missing the 2- 1 win over Drogheda through suspension.
Aaron Greene also came off the bench against the Boynesiders and should figure on Thursday. Jeff Henderson has been ruled out. Coleman added: “People talk about getting a result away from home in Europe and bringing them back to our place. “The result I want is a win. “We are not going there to try anything else. That’s the way we play.
“A win would set it up nicely for the return leg next week.
“It would give us a tremendous chance of getting to the next round.”
It would also mean that Rovers could take a giant step towards an attractive tie against top Norwegian side, Rosenborg.
Rosenborg play FK Jelgava of Latvia in their first round tie. The Rovers manager said: “I was delighted with our performance in Drogheda and I hope we can take that with us to Lithuania.
“While they are not a bad side as I have said, I would be confident we can do well.” Kick- off is 4pm Irish time. It is expected the game will be shown on TV around Sligo.