David McMillan: Tallaght pitch will suit Derry City in FC Tobol second-leg task

In an ideal world, Derry City would have played their Europa Conference League third qualifying round second leg at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium but Tallaght Stadium's surface may well suit them best against FC Tobol according to former Dundalk striker David McMillan.

The Candystripes go into Thursday's match - live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player - trailing 1-0 from last week's first leg in Kazakhstan.

Due to the Brandywell not meeting UEFA requirements for the second leg, the club had looked into playing the match at Windsor Park in Belfast but saw those efforts turned down, ensuring that Tallaght Stadium would be their designated 'home' for the night.

Derry's home form has not been their strongest suit on the Brandywell's artifiicial surface, although they won well against Drogheda United on Sunday.

There has been a sense that playing on grass brings out the best in Ruaidhri Higgins' side and McMillan concurred with that view on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

"They're probably one of those teams who have had better away form than home form, that's something we've spoken about this year," he said.

We need your consent to load this YouTube content We use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences

"It was the same last year for them. The players they have, the technical ability of the likes of Patrick McEleney, Will Patching and Michael Duffy, I think they probably enjoy the grass more than they do astroturf.

"They've travelled well generally and they've got good tactical ability. It's about whether they get the crowd down (to Tallaght) and I'm sure there will be big numbers down from Derry