Stephen Kenny positive ahead of Dundalk’s mission impossible

Stephen Kenny is weighing up the possibility of making changes to his starting line up for the second leg of Dundalk's Champions League qualifier against Legia Warsaw on Tuesday evening in Poland where the visitors need to win by a better scoreline than last week's 2-0 to complete what would be the greatest European comeback in the history of Irish club football.

It would also be by far the most lucrative victory with the Airticity League champions, who are currently guaranteed around €6 million for participating in the group stages of the Europa League, earning around €9 million more if they can progress instead to Uefa’s premier club competition. There would, on top of that, be scope to add millions more in results based bonus payments although no group stage success would them reap financial rewards on the scale that a big win tonight would.

"If we keep our tactical discipline from Dublin, we can win," insists Kenny who is without suspended skipper Stephen O'Donnell and injured striker Ciaran Kilduff for the game.

The midfielder is a huge loss for the Irish side with the 30 year-old consistently amongst the club's standout players in their European outings. At Lansdowne Road last week his composure both on and off the ball was a key factor in the way Dundalk matched their opponents for long stretches and edged the game at times but a first half booking ensured that he would be sidelined for this game.

Kilduff’s absence from the travelling party, after he picked up a knee injury on the training ground on Saturday, is also a setback, though, and adds to the pressure on David McMillan to deliver the goals Dundalk require to get themselves back into the tie.

Behind the striker, Kenny must decide on whether to bring Ronan Finn back into the side with the former UCD and Shamrock Rovers player recovered from a groin strain while there is also a call to be made in central defence after having left Brian Gartland out last week despite the player having been declared fit following a lay off with a broken wrist.

“These are decisions you have to make,” says Kenny. “Players are pushing hard. Brian has been one of the main leaders in the team and such a strong personality. Ronan Finn is back and is capable of being very influential also.”

He will need to get just about call right if his side is to have any chance. Only two teams in more than five years have successfully come back from the position in which they find themselves in a European tie and only a handful of others, in more than 100 ties where the first leg was won by the away team, have overcome even a one goal deficit.

The importance of the game to the Poles was underlined at the weekend when manager Besnik Hasi changed all 10 of his outfield players for a league game which his side lost 1-3 at home to Arka Gdynia. The loss leaves last year’s double winners in the relegation play-off positions with just six points from six games and seven points off first place which is held by Lechia Gdansk.

An early goal, and the psychological effect that it would be likely to have on both sides, would represent a huge boost to Dundalk’s chances and, notwithstanding the first leg loss away to BATE in the last round, they have generally performed better on the road this season than at home.

At this stage, however, they are into very different territory with the experience of some of the home side’s international players adding to the advantage that Legia possess heading into the game. Certainly the Irish faces a daunting task if the noise made by the few hundred Poles at last week’s game is anything to go by with the Polish Army stadium where the game is to be played holding around 31,000.

If Dundalk do bounce back from the 2-0 defeat to qualify for the Champions League group stages then they will discover which three teams they will face when the draw for competition is made in Monaco on Thursday. In the event that they find themselves in the Europa League, their draw will take place on Friday.

Cork City, meanwhile, take on Oman in a friendly game on Tuesday at Turner’s Cross where kick-off is now scheduled for 6.45pm.

And Sligo Rovers goalkeeper Michael Schlingermann has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2018 season. “Getting players committed to longer contracts is what we are looking to do here,” says manager Dave Robertson. “When you have proven players like Micheal is makes sense to get them signed. It is great for the players and the supporters to know what we want for the future.”