UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE Group A Rubin Kazan v Shamrock Rovers:AS THEIR captain Dan Murray talked up their fading hopes of acquiring some tangible reward for their efforts in Group A of the Europa League, there was an air of foreboding in Shamrock Rover manager Michael O'Neill's voice as he spoke of the onerous task they face in Kazan tonight.
Rovers have prepared as well as possible, taking the sting out a near five-hour journey of over 2,000 miles – across four time zones – by chartering an aircraft to bring them, along with over 100 supporters, to Tatarstan yesterday afternoon.
But for an out-of-season side that hasn’t played competitively since the home defeat to PAOK Salonika on November 3rd, it could well be as good as it gets.
Rubin Kazan, despite missing a few players tonight through suspension, have hit some ominous form on the back of two big league wins over Moscow’s CSKA and Dinamo.
There then lies the not inconsiderable matter of the 9pm kick-off locally which will see the temperature drop to at least minus six degrees in the city’s Central Stadium.
“It will be extremely difficult and there are many factors that make it extremely difficult,” said O’Neill in agreeing that, all things considered, this is set to be Rovers’ most testing game in the pool.
“Not only the travel and obviously the climate, but also the quality of Kazan. It’s probably the biggest obstacle that we’ve faced despite the other difficulties that we’ve had to overcome.
“I think that this will be, if not the most difficult, then certainly as difficult as any game that we could have in the group.”
Rovers’ only outing in almost four weeks since the PAOK game in Tallaght was a 2-0 defeat in a friendly against Swedish side Malmo last week.
While they may have enjoyed the break, O’Neill doesn’t believe it can have fully revitalised his players, insisting that can only be done in mid-season.
“We’ve had a two weeks lead-in for this game in terms of preparation. The Malmo game was a bonus,” added O’Neill.
“I think we’re in good shape to play the game despite not having played competitively for a month now.”
With the odds continuing to be stacked against them in their remaining games (they host Tottenham in their final match on December 15th), central defender Murray is desperate for at least one point to go with the plaudits they’ve received for their adventures in Europe this season.
Despite both Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp and PAOK manager Laszlo Boloni insisting they are good enough to do it, Rovers have yet to garner a result in the four games to date.
“I think it was great when we qualified,” said Murray prior to training last night. “We got a good few pats on the back for being the first Irish team to do it. As soon as the draw was made we knew how difficult it would be – but we’re confident enough to get at least a point – if not nick a win.
“It’s been probably much tougher than even we thought to get results that we thought we’d be able to. In parts of all games so far we’ve done really well, in other parts we’ve done really badly, which has cost us.
“We’ve gone up a step in quality from the qualifiers and you get punished for every small mistake you make.
“It’s been a tough learning curve for everyone, even the manager says it’s been harder than we all expected it to be.
“To get a point would be great. We’ve got two games against the best two teams to finish off. To play over here is the toughest away game I’d say Shamrock Rovers has ever faced. But we’re still pretty confident of getting something out of the games.”
Both defender Craig Sives and midfielder Conor McCormack, who are set to have surgery on respective groin and calf injuries in the coming weeks, are Rovers’ only absentees.
Ken Oman comes into central defence while O’Neill hinted Karl Sheppard is vying strongly with leading scorer Gary Twigg to play in the lone striker’s role.
RUBIN KAZAN(probable): Ryzhikov; Navas, Kaleshin, Bocchetti, Sharonov; Ryazantsev, Nemov, Kasaev, Noboa, Natcho; Valdez.
SHAMR OCK ROVERS(probable): Thompson; Sullivan, Oman, Murray, Stevens; McCabe, Rice, Finn, ODonnell, Dennehy; Sheppard.
