SOCCER:TOWARDS THE end of his playing days, Flora Tallinn boss Martin Reim was part of the Estonia team that lost 3-0 to England in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley.

The quietly spoken midfielder, who was making his 154th appearance for his country that day, was respectful to the hosts beforehand and admitted they were strong favourites to win, but insisted he and his team-mates hadn’t arrived entirely resigned to defeat.

However, Reim must have been a little taken aback the next morning to find that the Sunhad headlined the piece in which he was quoted: "I'm Europe's biggest loser."

Perhaps one of the Irish papers will do the same to him this morning for his demeanour in Tallaght yesterday was similar as he discussed his side’s prospects in tonight’s Champions League qualifier against Shamrock Rovers.

Regularly champs at home, Flora have routinely been made to look like chumps abroad having progressed just once, five years ago, in 17 attempts.

Under their former captain, though, they seem to be making a concerted effort at building a good side, with a string of young internationals included in the travelling party for this game.

Still, nobody could accuse the visitors of getting carried away and Reim yesterday set his side the modest target of having something still to play for when the tie goes back to Tallinn next week.

Michael O’Neill didn’t sound like a man who feels his side can kill the tie off either and while he may be heartened by the fact it is 14 European games since Flora last won, it is worth noting Rovers have played as many times in the Champions League without ever coming out on top either at home or away.

Both managers have close to full-strength squads, although each is short of a striker, with O’Neill missing Karl Sheppard and Reim having travelled to Dublin without Estonian international Alo Dupikov.

The visiting manager insists Rovers will start as favourites, but O’Neill was far from confident, insisting the visitors have more than enough quality to demand respect.

Most recently Reim took his players to a friendly club tournament to get them some experience against slightly better foreign opposition and he is hopeful the experience will work out well for his side.

By contrast, Rovers build-up to this game has not gone smoothly after two losses in their last three league games, the latest coming at the Brandywell in a 1-0 defeat to Derry City.

Former Rovers player Shane Robinson, now playing with FC Haka in Finland, watched Flora’s last competitive outing, a 3-3 draw at the start of the month, for O’Neill and reported back to the Rovers manager that his side were well capable of winning this two-legged tie.

“Shane’s done a very good match report for us,” says O’Neill, “and while he feels that they are a decent side that should provide a stiff test for us, he feels that this is a tie that we are more than capable of progressing in.”

With nearly everyone available to him again, the former Northern Ireland player has some interesting decisions to make in relations to his starting line-up.

However, it seems likely that 10 of the 11 that kicked off against Derry on Friday night will retain their places, although O’Neill may sacrifice Ciarán Kilduff in order to bring back Gary O’Neill up front or perhaps add a body in midfield where the likes of Conor McCormack or Stephen O’Donnell would be the obvious candidates.

Asked what his aim for tonight was, O’Neill was as vague as his opposite number, insisting that even if the game is lost or an away goal is conceded, last year’s performance in Tel Aviv, where Rovers won to progress in the Europa League, proves that his side can go away and produce the goods if required.

“In an ideal world you would win the game and not concede a goal,” he said.

“But I wouldn’t expect it. Obviously our goal is to progress and I know that the players are certainly confident that we can go through in this tie.”

Despite their heroics in Israel a year ago, anything less than a win tonight is bound to undermine that confidence just a little and leave Reim well placed to emerge as European winners at last.