Stephen Kenny targets result to ‘shock’ Europe

League champions and league leaders Dundalk are accustomed to having it almost all their own way in the domestic game, their potent mix of pace, fluent passing and goal-power a testament not just to the exceptional quality of players like Richie Towell and Daryl Horgan but also to manager Stephen Kenny’s commitment to playing football as it should be played.

But having done some impressive heavy lifting in Belarus last week, when they could consider themselves unlucky to have gone down 2-1 to a team of serious Champions League pedigree in BATE Borisov, tonight in their second round second leg game at Oriel Park Dundalk will face a different kind of challenge — how to go about playing their normal attacking game in search of the goal they need but without being inhibited by the fear factor of conceding what could prove a decisive away goal for the Belarussian side.

“There is a dilemma there and it has been discussed,” concedes Kenny. “But I have plenty of experience in that regard, in relation to do you sit tight, not concede and try win it in the last 20 minutes?

“So we’ll just be unequivocal and say no — that is absolutely not the way we will approach it. There is no point in setting up that way and conceding and then wondering ‘what if we’d had a go?’

“We will definitely be ambitious in the way we think and in the way we play and if we concede one it won’t be a disaster — it just means we have to score two to bring it to (extra time) or penalty kicks.

“It’s not an unmitigated disaster if you concede one. The tie is not over by any stretch of the imagination.

“We back ourselves to absolutely play with the conviction that we always play with. I won’t be telling the players to try keep it tight, kill the game and try to win it in the last 20 minutes.

“But the players do know that if it is 0-0 the longer it goes on, then we have an ability to get late goals and we have to back ourselves to do that.”

Not that Kenny underestimates the threat posed by opponents who have 15 international players in their current squad and whose European record includes victories against the likes of Bayern Munich and Athletic Bilbao.

“They really are a standout club for what they’ve achieved for a club of their size in Europe,” he says.

“From where they’ve come to get the group stages so regularly and take on some of the giants and get results — they haven’t done that by being naive or a poor side. So we acknowledge they have a lot of quality.

“But, from our point of view, I feel that some of our players are exceptionally talented. Our wide players like Horgan and Meenan, even people like O’Donnell, Towell and Finn, none of them are over 5’10’’.

“They’re basically just skilful players, really, all very comfortable in possession on either foot, with great first touches and real good football brains. So I do think we have a lot of talent within our group.

“Every game we play, it’s our intention to try and dominate possession. That was our ambition away from home (against BATE) as well. A lot of people were telling me that we couldn’t expect to have that away, because we would have to surrender possession and defend. I didn’t agree with that point. I felt we had to be braver, press higher and not worry about the consequences.

“BATE are dangerous. They have good players and are very quick on the break, so the home game isn’t necessarily easier than the away game. But we feel we have a chance, we believe in ourselves and we believe we can win the game. But we do understand it would be a massive shock in European football if we were to do that. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but we don’t want it to stop there either.”

Although a couple of Dundalk players are nursing knocks, Kenny expects to have a fully fit squad to choose from for tonight’s big game which will be televised live on RTÉ Two.