THE EUROPA League games don’t get any easier for Shamrock Rovers but, unlike their opponents at Tallaght this evening, they are now free to devote all of their energy to a competition in which any positive result over the coming weeks would, according to manager Michael O’Neill, represent a bonus for a squad that has already achieved just about all of its preseason goals.
“We didn’t come into the competition with any great designs to win it,” said O’Neill whose only injury worry ahead of tonight’s game concerns Gary Twigg who is hoping to shake off a hamstring problem.
“But we have won the league now and as players they have opportunities now to take part in games that are certainly not run of the mill.
“We will approach this game as we have done the rest. We will go in as league champions and we will go in with confidence from that. The players are itching to play.”
PAOK Salonika, without a win now in four league outings after suffering a 3-1 home defeat by Panathinaikos at the weekend, but still in contention to qualify for the next stage of this competition, might feel that now their need is greater than that of their hosts.
To judge by his press conference last night, 58-year-old Romanian coach Laszlo Boloni could certainly do with another victory over the Dublin club.
The tone of the questioning of him by the small band of travelling reporters was pretty scathing at times and that would be likely to get worse in the event of an upset this evening.
Kicking a fellow manager when he’s down will hardly be a priority for O’Neill but the Northerner insists he and his players are not without motivation. He points to the fact that, in addition to bonuses, there are ranking points to play for and Rovers can make life a lot easier for themselves next summer if they can rack up a result or two from their remaining three games of the year.
“If we can gain a point, then obviously there are financial incentives but the coefficient is the big thing. Points in the group stages enhance coefficient more so than in the qualification rounds and if the draw (next year) is favourable and we are seeded then it makes a huge difference.”
After respectable displays but still decisive enough defeats against Rubin Kazan and Tottenham, though, the challenge remains as daunting as ever.
The game between these two a fortnight ago was the closest the Dubliners have come yet to nicking something from a group game but the hosts held their nerve and the gulf in resources is highlighted by the long list of experienced players drawn from around a dozen countries which Boloni will get to mull over as he sits down to make his team selection.
The coach must plan without Vladimir Ivic, Stefanos Athanasiadis and Pablo Garcia (Serbian, Greek and Uruguayan internationals respectively) while Chile’s Pablo Contreras looks set to miss out having been replaced at half-time at the weekend when he was making his return after a spell on the sidelines and Brazilian left-back Dorvalino Lino is considered a 50-50 shot to start.
Giorgis Fotakis, Sakis Papazoglou (both Greek) and Poland’s Miroslav Sznaucner may well start this time having been left out for the 2-1 win over the Irish champions in Thessaloniki a couple of weeks back while left-sided Portuguese forward Vieirinha and vastly experienced Dimitris Salpingidis are likely to pose major threats to the Rovers defence again.
“I think tomorrow night’s game will be extremely difficult,” says O’Neill, who has a few choices of his own to make.
“No less so than against Ruben Kazan here, we will have to be at our very best to take anything from the game.
“And we have to stay in it as long as possible – it’s as simple as that. We have never crumbled despite losing early goals and we have proven that we can come back but staying in the game as long as possible is paramount.
“We learned that from Belgrade and even going back to Copenhagen. If the game against PAOK is scoreless after 70 minutes I won’t have a problem with that because we are always capable of winning it.”
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Brush; Sullivan, Oman, Murray, Stevens; McCormack; McCabe, Rice, O’Donnell, Dennehy; Sheppard.
PAOK SALONIKA: Chalkias; Etto, Cirillo, Malezas, Lino; Arias, Fotakis, Lazar; Salpigidis, Vieirinha; Papazoglou.
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Bulgaria).
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