Cotter’s City out to defy the odds

There are any number of ways of expressing the intimidating size of the task facing Cork City in the second-leg of their Europa League First Round tie against Progres Niederkorn here in Luxembourg this evening, but perhaps the most straightforward is to note that a side which hasn’t scored in its last three competitive games must now score three in one outing to secure an outright win or, failing that, two to extend the life of this tie into extra time.

And no less daunting for City is the reality that, if they are to have any chance of pulling off what looks like a mission impossible, they also need to keep at bay a home side to whom they pretty much gifted two first-half goals at Turner’s Cross last week, with the result that, even before the first whistle blows in the Stade Municipal de la Ville in Differdange at 6.30pm Irish time this evening, Niederkorn already appear to be firmly on course for a meeting with Glasgow Rangers in the next round.