Robertson unfazed by tough test

Uefa Champions League First qualifying round, first leg:Having overseen Hearts' moderately successful Uefa Cup campaign three seasons ago, John Robertson is no stranger to the international side of the club game.

As he prepares for this evening's Champions League qualifier against Armenia's FC Pyunik at the Brandywell, however, there remains some concern about his lack of familiarity with a team he has only seen in action twice since being appointed a couple of weeks back.

In the longer term, there will be bigger things by which to measure the Scot's achievements in his new job but the club's fans harbour fond memories of last year's adventures in Gothenburg, Glasgow and Paris and anything approaching a repeat would greatly endear the new man to the people of the city.

As he discussed the match yesterday, however, Robertson seemed confident of his own ability to map out a route to victory over the next eight days. Asked if he had been in touch with Stephen Kenny to hear first hand how the Dubliner had guided what is essentially the same group of players past Swedish and Scottish opposition, he was quietly dismissive of the idea.

He has, he says, watched tapes of last year's games which, combined with what he witnessed during the wins over Cobh and Sligo, gives him sufficient insight into the pool of talent available to him. It seems unlikely, however, there will be anything like as much tactical manoeuvring from the current manager as there was from his predecessor.

Being drawn against Pyunik, of course, has been less than ideal for City who have endured serious practical difficulties in terms of gathering information on their opponents as well as arranging transport to Yerevan for next week's return leg.

The Armenians, though, had to endure a long journey before arriving in Ireland on Monday and securing a home win will be particularly important for the League of Ireland side whose recent performance against Sligo Rovers appeared to suggest that Robertson's arrival was having a positive effect.

"If we could take a lead away without conceding a goal that would be wonderful," said the manager yesterday.

"It will be difficult, though. They have two thirds of the Armenian national side in their squad, including the whole of the back four and, when you consider that they beat Poland 1-0 in their last European Championship qualifier, it's clear that they deserve to be respected."

The visiting club is also on course for a seventh straight league title back at home and having seen his own predecessor ousted in the wake of a domestic cup semi-final defeat, visiting manager Armen Gyulbudaghyants will presumably see the stakes as being pretty high this evening.

City have Paddy McCourt back for the game after a three week lay-off while Killian Brennan is almost certain to be ruled out by a groin strain.

With Robertson likely to stick as close as possible to the side that beat Sligo, that should mean a fairly straight swap with McCourt coming in on the right and either Gareth McGlynn switching to the other flank or, possibly, Kevin Deery getting a start. "If we can reproduce the work rate and tempo from the Sligo game then I'd be happy," says Robertson who is expected to rely again on Mark Farren and new signing Sammy Morrow up front.

Under-21 Northern Ireland international, Morrow, looked impressive on his debut but Farren bagged two of the team's four goals in the game and the hope will be he can maintain his recent run of form against tough and experienced defenders.

"That's what you want," says the 26 year-old, "the challenge of testing yourself against international players."

That may indeed be what he wants, but having enjoyed themselves last year, the majority of the fans would probably settle happily for victory on virtually any terms against both Pyunik and Shaktar Donetsk in the next round in the hope of getting to follow their side to somewhere a little more accessible before this summer is out.