Sheppard determined to make a point

Shamrock Rovers striker Karl Sheppard says the team are determined to get at least one point on the board from their remaining Europa League Group A fixtures.

The Hoops play Rubin Kazan in sub-zero conditions in Russia tomorrow before finishing their continental campaign by hosting Tottenham – currently third in the Barclays Premier League – on December 15.

Sheppard admits Rovers will have a tough task on their hands to halt their run of four straight defeats in the competition, but believes the way the side have played so far has offered plenty of encouraging signs.

“We have done well in a lot of the games but we still have no points and that hurts,” Sheppard told www.herald.ie.

“We want to get something out of the group and if that means just one point, then we’ll work towards that. It will help regarding the seeding for next season.

“The last two games are probably the hardest ones – Rubin away and Spurs at home – so it’s not easy to pick up a point but we will be ready.

“We have tried to work on acclimatising but you can’t really deal with that until you experience the cold out there. I think we’ll be okay.

“We have been able to deal with a lot of hurdles and obstacles away from home in Europe so we can cope.”

The Hoops have conceded early goals in three of their four group games and Sheppard feels it is vital that is avoided tomorrow if the team are to come away from the contest with anything.

“We will know where we stand after the first 10 minutes or so,” Sheppard said.

“If we can stand up to them in the early stages and keep a clean sheet early on – which we have struggled to do in a lot of these games, to be honest – then we will do well.”

Rovers have not played a competitive game since their previous Europa League outing on November 3, a 3-1 home loss to Greece’s PAOK Salonika, whereas Rubin’s last match was a Russian league fixture on Saturday.

The Hoops did, however, travel to Sweden last week to face Malmo in a friendly and manager Michael O’Neill is confident his players are ready for tomorrow.

“There are many factors that will make this difficult for us: the travel, climate and quality of Kazan,” O’Neill said.

“This will be as difficult a game – if not the most difficult – as we have faced in the Europa League so far.

“But the players have been excellent since we came back together.

“The Malmo game was a bonus and was very good for us. The team is in good shape despite not having played competitively for four weeks.”

Shamrock will be without injured duo Craig Sives (groin) and Conor McCormack (calf).