Patrick McEleney not settling on 50 as Derry eye another memorable European night

Derry City's great European adventure hits the road tonight, but the distance is a bit more manageable this time around as Candystripe fans head to Dublin for the second leg of their Europa Conference League against FC Tobol Kostanay.

So far they have been to the Faroe Islands to play HB Torshavn, Finland to knock out KuPS in a thriller while last week they were in Kazakhstan, losing 1-0 to keep the tie alive ahead of tonight’s second leg in Tallaght.

It has added a few more stamps to Patrick McEleney’s passport with the midfielder set to make his 50th European appearance in front of the RTÉ cameras.

Most of that half century came during spells with Dundalk, but as a Shantallow native growing up a mile from the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in Derry city, it’s understandable that his home club’s European exploits carry extra excitement for McEleney.

However, it’s a game in Dundalk colours that’s sticking out in his mind as Ruaidhrí Higgins’ side try to mirror what Stephen Kenny’s team did in 2016 when, like Derry, they had to give up home comforts for Tallaght as they trailed 1-0 from the first leg. What followed was a crushing 3-0 win over Belarusian side BATE Borisov and a repeat would do just fine here.

"I can only help with what I’ve seen through the years," said the Derry captain.

"I’ve been thinking about things to say. I’ve been there on big return legs where you have to do the business. These nights don’t come often, you have to look forward to it. I’d be lying if I wasn’t thinking about that one [BATE Borisov] specifically.

"We don’t want this to stop. Teams have got to group stages in previous years, but to go through the four rounds, people would have said basically it’s impossible but it’s something we are