NELSON VALDEZ had the quality to clinically punish bad defending as Shamrock Rovers were frozen out in Kazan last night.

MICHAEL O’NEILL fears Shamrock Rovers will face their biggest trial yet against classy Rubin Kazan here in the depths of freezing Tatarstan tonight.

Sebastien Bassong still believes Tottenham’s hopes of winning the Europa League are alive despite their 1-0 defeat to Rubin Kazan last night.

Rubin Kazan 1 Tottenham 0

Shamrock Rovers 0 Rubin Kazan 3

CELTIC manager Tony Mowbray urged his side to build on the positives of their 2-0 Europa League victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv in Glasgow last night despite it not being enough to keep them in the competition.

CELTIC manager Tony Mowbray refused to use the heat and humidity of Israel as an excuse for the Bhoys’ late defeat to Hapoel Tel Aviv in their Europa League Group C opener in the Bloomfield stadium yesterday.

Hapoel Tel Aviv 2 Celtic 1

Hapoel Tel-Aviv 0 Tottenham 2

Hapoel Tel Aviv 0 Tottenham 2