Drogheda aim for mix of optimism and realism

HAVING SECURED their first ever away win in Europe last week to progress against Levadia Tallinn, Drogheda United face a rather more daunting challenge this evening at Dalymount Park where Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kiev will be getting their annual assault on the Champions League under way.

The three-times semi-finalists finished fourth in a group that included Manchester United, Roma and Sporting Lisbon last season and their failure to take even a point from six games combined with their second-place finish to Shaktar Donetsk at home in the league has left them desperately anxious to make amends during the months ahead.

That, it seems, means a domestic title as well as a much stronger showing in Europe.

Certainly, to judge by the visiting media's reaction to seeing the match venue for the first time last night, any sort of hiccup against the Irish champions would not be taken well.

Yuriy Semin, who previously coached the Russian national team after many years in charge of Lokomotiv Moscow, is without a couple of his first-choice players, with Nigerian midfielder Ayila Yussuf joining Brazil's Carlos Correa on the injury list at the weekend.

But the club has backed Semin heavily over the summer months, with Croatian international Ognjen Vukojevic, signed for €8 million just before the European Championships, one of a handful of foreigners drafted in to improve performances.

"There is so much pressure on us to do well after last year," conceded team official Oleksiy Semenenko last night. "It was the biggest shame and we are desperate to recover."

Whether they can really compete with the Continent's richest clubs again remains to be seen but having made it to group stages in 10 of the last 11 seasons they clearly do not expect to be beaten in this second qualifying round, particularly after their scouts at Drogheda's games in the last round talked of the Irish side's "simple football".

Still, FC Thun of Switzerland did knock them out at this stage three years ago and Semin was careful to be respectful last night.

United skipper Stuart Byrne is hoping the home side can strike a balance that involves "a little bit of realism with a little bit of optimism".

On the face of it, Dynamo's recent record combined with a glance at the squad they have brought to Dublin - 18 players drawn from 10 countries with most of them senior internationals - is likely to inspire more of the former than the latter. But Byrne maintains that whatever the odds, the hosts should not be intimidated going into this evening's first leg.

"The realty is they are the overwhelming favourites," he says. "We've no problem being the underdogs, no problem at all. Irish teams and Irish sports people in general have thrived in the past on being the underdogs. When we have nothing left in the tank we have this ability to bounce back and push on to a higher level.

"But I'd like to think players are not really looking at the name of the football club," he continues, "we have players here that have played against big clubs in the past and sometimes when you've played against them you realise they weren't as good as you would have thought . . . although, I'm not saying that about Dynamo.

"The fact is players have that natural thing in them to want to win games and be competitive. Like I say, we need a little bit of optimism and a little bit of realism, and if we find a happy medium between the two then we could be looking at a good result."

When asked about what would constitute such an outcome prior to the game against Levadia Tallinn two weeks ago, Byrne was clear that as the home team Drogheda needed to be pressing for the win. This time, against a team of such quality, he is a little more circumspect.

"There are an awful lot of elements involved," he observes, "there is luck, there is discipline, there is ability and a bit of quality. If they all come together, we're certainly capable of getting a result. But we won't get too far ahead of ourselves. We'll have to take the game on its merits. Maybe take it half by half. If we can get to half-time level with a good shape to us then we will have a look at it and see if we can go from there."

His manager is equally cautious but Paul Doolin hopes that bigger support than the club got in the last round will help to raise the team on the night.

Goalkeeper Dan Connor is a major doubt, while Brian Shelley and Shane Robinson are definitely ruled out by injury.

"We're missing a couple of lads but we've a good group and we've performed well every year in Europe," says Doolin. "Last week our discipline and shape were good and if we can build on that here then hopefully we'll be in a position to go out there next week and get something."