Underdogs tag enjoyed by Rovers

AS TOTTENHAM manager Harry Redknapp proffered last month and PAOK’s Romanian coach Laszlo Boloni reiterated yesterday, Shamrock Rovers will pick up points in this group.

But while their groundbreaking Europa League adventure has brought them profile and profit, for right-back Pat Sullivan, who’s memorable equalising goal against Partizan in Belgrade helped get them this far, retaining their league title is the bigger picture.

Beating Derry City last Thursday has Rovers well placed to do just that with the title to play for at UCD on Monday – if Sligo Rovers and Derry haven’t contrived to make it happen tomorrow night.

Tonight, Rovers play their ninth game in Europe this season as the big games just keep on coming for Michael O’Neill’s side.

“They’ve all been big for the last month or so, it’s something we’re used to at the moment,” said Sullivan ahead of training last night. “But winning the league is more important. The league was always the priority. We said to ourselves before, that the Europa games are great, but to give ourselves the best chance of being back next year, we have to win the league.

“European games are amazing, you can always say you scored a goal and have the DVD. You don’t want to say we had the league won, but we threw it away.”

Given their hectic schedule, preparation hasn’t always been ideal ahead of Europe, but Rovers go into this game having had a full week off, so to speak. And Sullivan hopes that can make a difference tonight.

“Since we’ve qualified for the Europa League, we’ve been playing Thursday and Sunday, we’ve never really had time to think. We’ve had big games coming thick and fast.

“We had a bit of a lead, then we let it slip. We were always playing catch up with Sligo and Derry playing before us. But with the week we’ve had, beating Derry, we’ve had a few days to think about this game and savour the build-up and enjoy the trip over. As soon as the game finishes, we’ll think about UCD.”

The consensus when the group was drawn was that PAOK would provide Rovers with their best hope of getting a result. But having studied them in the build-up to the game, Sullivan believes they are not the lesser of their three opponents.

PAOK drew their opening game at home to Tottenham 0-0, missing a penalty, and then got a very creditable 2-2 draw at Rubin Kazan. “That’s from an outside perspective,” said Sullivan of the above assumption.

“When you take stock and look at the teams individually, there is no team you look at and think they’re the two games that we’re going to get something from, if we can. We’ve seen them play and we know they’re not weak.”

Despite the financial rewards of €140,000 for a win and half that for a draw, Sullivan insists there is no additional pressure on the team to get results.

“I don’t think so, we’ve not spoken about having to get points. We’ve spoken about how we got here, how hard it was to get here, how happy and proud we are to get here.

“We’re not going to sit on it and take losing games, we’ll give it a shot in every game we can. We might sit in a certain way in games, people might say it’s defensive, but it’s European football, it’s what you have to do.”

Striker Gary O’Neill is out with a calf strain, while defender Craig Sives is expected to be passed fit.

“Our better performances have been away from home,” said O’Neill at last night’s press conference at the stadium. “We won in Belgrade, drew in Estonia, performed well in Copenhagen and Juventus and won in Israel as well.

“Those experiences will no doubt help us. We go in as underdogs against a good team with a lot more European experience than we have. But being the underdogs in that situation is something the players enjoy.”

O’Neill described as “huge” the importance of their being top of the table back home and of the little extra time they’ve had to prepare having helped relax the players.

“Our players are playing their 54th competitive game of the season,” said O’Neill. “PAOK have played just six league games. We are now in a strong position in our domestic league. The mood in the squad is very good. That will lead to a positive mindset approaching the game.”

PAOK, second in their league, will be without five players through injury, chief among them Uruguayan playmaker Pablo Garcia (groin). “Shamrock is a team who everyone thought to be the fourth team in the group,” said Boloni, a European Cup winner with Steaua Bucharest as a player in 1986.

Rovers’ enthusiasm and physical presence are their main attributes, according to Boloni. “They really have a chance to maybe take points, but I hope not. But they have quality and we respect them.”