Ruaidhri Higgins believes that Derry City have laid the foundations for another historic European night for the club as they entertain Tobol Kostanay at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday night.
The Candystripes were narrowly beaten in the first leg, away in Kazakhstan last week, however, the Derry manager is confident that his side can overcome that one-goal deficit to advance to the next round of the Europa Conference League.
City started slowly in last week's 1-0 defeat to Tobol in a game that was played on a pitch that hampered both sides from playing decent football, however, Higgins’ charges grew into the contest and had plenty of opportunities throughout an evenly matched encounter.
The Brandywell outfit were ultimately undone by a wondergoal from Tobol defender Roman Arsankulov midway through the second half, which leaves the tie with all to play for in the second leg.
Derry will look to seize an advantage, knowing the journey that their opponents have to negotiate from one side of Europe to the other, and while the Candystripes are playing at home, they have to also travel, albeit to Dublin, due to the limitations of their own ground.
But the playing surface and size of the pitch at Tallaght Stadium will arguably help and not hamper the Derry cause, as it will suit the brand of free-flowing, attack-minded football that Higgins has instilled into his team.
"It’s something to really get excited about," said Higgins, regarding the return leg, speaking at a pre-match press conference.
"I think we’ve given ourselves a real platform to go and try to progress and that is what we wanted coming home.
"We enjoy going there (Tallaght). It’s a big pitch, lovely, the players really love going there and playing their football. We’ve got
soccer
Europa Conference League
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Patrick Maceleney
Ruaidhri Higgins
Derry City