Alan Reynolds says his Bohemians players must take inspiration from both their first-leg performance and their travelling support as they attempt the most unlikely of European upsets in this evening’s UEFA Conference League qualifier away to Midtjylland.
Bohs’ European journey so far has seen them beat St Joseph’s of Gibraltar 2-0 on aggregate, while there was great drama in both legs in the second qualifying round against Kosovans Ballkani – a 90th minute Ross Tierney winner in Dalymount and the drama of a penalty shootout in Pristina.
This third qualifying round tie, against a club with significant European pedigree, was always going to represent a far greater challenge, one Reynolds last week described as a step-up like no other.
And, having lost the first leg 2-0 in Tallaght last Thursday, Bohs now have a mountain to climb to get through but Reynolds says his team are in no mood to throw in the towel.
He said: “I don’t think anyone is under any illusions about how difficult it will be to turn around a 2-0 lead against a team of such quality but there is great belief in our group of players, and we are over here to give everything of ourselves to upset the odds.
“Nobody really gave us a chance going into the first game either. We lost the game, but we were excellent and I think our supporters acknowledge that too as we saw from the reception we got after the game.
“Small fine margins cost us last week – you need a slice of luck against a team as good as Midtjylland but we didn’t get them. We were agonisingly close with a couple of chances, for their first goal we were down to ten men with Senan Mullen getting treatment, and they exploited that. At 1-0 down we were awarded a penalty, which was overruled for offside. We remained well in the game, but then we concede a second from a brilliant free-kick, which was a bit of a soft one to have been awarded.
“So we didn’t get our luck but we can take so much inspiration from our performance. Midtjylland are the home team, they have huge pedigree in European football. They’ve lads sitting on the bench valued at tens of millions. So all of that, and given the results they have had in Europe in the past, means they will be expecting to win comfortably. The expectation is on them and all the odds are in their favour.
“But we have shown if we are clever, if we work hard, we are capable of giving them a real game. If we manage to score the first goal, then who knows. We’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
While Bohs received deserved plaudits for the performance in the first leg, the performance in the interim game, a 3-1 defeat away to in-form Waterford, left a lot to be desired.
Reynolds said: “The couple of league games we have played after our European ties in the past couple of weeks, the results haven’t been good enough. Against Galway in Dalymount after the game in Kosovo, I thought we were excellent but we couldn’t get the winner that I felt our performance more than deserved.
“But it was a different story in Waterford. We just weren’t at the races. All the things we spoke about before the game about how good Waterford can be, how aggressive they are in and out of possession, we simply didn’t deal with it and that’s on us. You can’t put in a first-half performance like that against any team and expect to get a result, let alone a team like Waterford who are one of the form teams in the league since Graham Coughlan came in.
“So there is frustration that we let slip opportunities to put a bit of distance between us and the teams below us as well as putting a bit of pressure on the league leaders. We need to learn from that: If we want to progress, we have to be ruthless.”
The need to show a ruthless streak will be even more pressing when they take to the field at the MCH Arena this evening. But one thing Reynolds’ men will have to their advantage is the knowledge that they will have over 500 raucous travelling supporters right behind them.
Reynolds said: “It’s another big crowd of supporters right behind us, digging deep to spend their hard-earned money supporting their team, and that means everything to our players.
“The support we’ve had over the past six weeks in Europe has been incredible. It has been a memorable time to be involved – moments like Rossi’s late winner in Dalymount against Ballkani and the scenes in Pristina of the team running the length of the pitch to celebrate Jordan Flores’ winning penalty with everyone who travelled over are ones to cherish.
“Every one of the players and staff wants to repay that support. We know the odds are against us, nobody is giving us a chance. But we have belief, we have a game-plan, we have incredible support, and we will give it everything.”
Team news
Bohemians are at full strength, with captain Dawson Devoy available for selection once more having been suspended for Sunday’s game against Waterford.
New signing Paddy Madden is not registered.
Streaming
This evening’s game will be streamed live at play.bohemians.ie for €12, with commentary from Richie McCormack.