'We have brilliant footballers as well who are ready for this stage'

Europa Conference League Qualifying Round 2

Derry City vs. KuPs

Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium

Tonight, 7:45pm

Ruaidhri Higgins leads his team into tonight’s Europa Conference League Qualifier against KuPs firmly believing that his team can go even further in this year's competition.

The recent 1-0 aggregate win against HB Torshavn of the Faroe Islands was the Candystripes’ first European victory of note in nine years, but the manager doesn’t want to stop there. With the winners of this two-legged tie set to meet FC Basel of Switzerland or Tobol Mostanay of Kazakhstan, Higgins sees a real opportunity for another memorable European campaign.

First and foremost, however, is tonight’s home tie against KuPs, who currently sit second in the Veikkausliiga.

“They are a really good team and we’ve done a lot of work on them obviously over the last few days and without being disrespectful to Torshavn, they are definitely a step up,” Higgins said. “In relation to our performance, I thought for about 130 of the 80 minutes, that we played really well in the last round. We’ll need that type pf performance for the two games if we are to progress to the next round, that’s for sure.

“We’re very well versed on what we’re coming up against. Gerard Boyle was out there watching them last week and Gerard’s report on the game was brilliant and really well-detailed so as a staff I think we’re well-organised on this game and the players will be well-organised and hopefully we can put in a big performance for the football club.”

After a slow start to the season, KuPs went on a superb run of 11 wins from 12 games, but have recently stumbled, winning just once in the last five. In contrast, Derry City have won three of the last four, and are building momentum at the right time.

“They are an extremely dynamic team, and they have got good individual players,” Higgins continued. “We obviously have a plan that we’re working towards and what we feel will cause them problems, so if we work towards that and be disciplined in what we’re trying to achieve then we can get a big result. We know, over the course of the two games, this is a huge, huge challenge but one that we’re ready for.

“We don’t see this as a big underdog thing, we see this as a game we’re capable of winning. We know the opposition are excellent and a really good team with good individual players, but we have brilliant footballers as well who are ready for this stage and hopefully, we can produce a big night.”

Positive

The removal of the away goals rule has changed the dynamic of modern European ties, but Higgins believes that whatever happens at the Brandywell tonight, the tie will be decided next week in Finland.

“We lost at home last year to Riga, and we had two or three amazing opportunities to go 1-0 up out there. Regardless of the result, we won’t be giving up on anything, we want to go out and win. We’ve won three or four on the spin here and our home form has really gathered momentum and we want that to continue.

“When you get to this level of European competition, you’re always worried about the strength of the opposition, but I’m sure that they will be concerned about some of the players we have as well. If they come here and have a real go at us, it could potentially suit us.

“We want to go and be positive, but obviously not naïve as well. It’ll be a tactical game I imagine, but it will be over 180 minutes and we’ve got real experience in our team as well. It’s something to really look forward to and something to whet the appetite so let’s see if we can produce a really big night.”