'Confident' Tromso eye key Kilmarnock advantage with Conference League play-off up for grabs in Norway

Confident coach Gard Holme reckons refreshed Tromso are ready to press home their big Euro advantage over Kilmarnock.

The Norwegian side had a weekend off to prepare for the visit of Derek McInnes’ team. League rules allowed them to reschedule their clash against Fredrikstad, while Holme witnessed McInnes' men having to slog through most of a 3-0 loss to St Johnstone with 10 men. Tromso skipper Ruben Jenssen admits it's been a bonus with niggling injuries in the squad also eased by the time off.

Co-boss Holme now believes his recharged men are prepared to go the distance in the Conference League second leg at Romssa Arena. He said: “It was good to have the break, of course. It’s an advantage for us that we are even fresher, so, if it’s a long and tough tie, I think we will be handling that pretty well. Some of the players that had some small things from the last game get ready again.

“We are confident that we can give them some trouble, be a little bit more attacking-minded and control a little bit more of the game here at home. We went into the (away) game feeling that we were going to score more goals and win the second leg as well. Now, of course, we have to do it.

“I don’t think they will be that surprised. They will probably be ready for what we can do, but, hopefully, we can give them even more problems now. We are confident that we are in a good position. I don’t want to say we are clear favourites.”

Jenssen says his men are ready for another battle as he stated: "They play very physical, very direct, try to win a lot of the second balls and go for the set pieces. We have played good games against those teams, so we are confident that we have learned a lot from the last game and will perform even better.“