Ruaidhri Higgins is confident Derry City can cause an upset in Kazakhstan and go on to write a famous new chapter in the Brandywell club’s European history.
The club’s 40-seat chartered flight arrived in Kostanay on Tuesday evening after more than 10 hours of travelling ahead of Thursday’s Europa Conference League third round qualifier against Tobol who are ranked 135 places above them in Uefa’s coefficients.
It will be no easy task for Higgins’ troops as they must play in the energy-sapping midafternoon heat where it’s expected to reach 26 degrees on match day.
Regardless of the travelling and match day conditions, Higgins believes his team can produce a memorable result and keep their chances of reaching a historic European play-off alive going into the return leg next week.
“We had a tight first round, a really tight second round. I know they (Tobol) are favourites but I think we can cause an upset, I really do,” began the City boss. “I believe in the players and what they’re about and the group of players we have. There’s no reason why we can’t be ambitious and try and get ourselves into the next round.
“We have to go there, it’s a long journey but they have to come here as well, that’s the nature of the beast. We want to go through the tie!”
Finnish outfit KuPS were more experienced in European football than Tobol and were ranked higher by Uefa but Derry produced two stunning performances in both home and away legs to progress at their expense. Those displays, particularly the 3-3 draw in Kuopio will give the City players real belief going into Thursday’s first leg in Kazakhstan.
“And so they should (have confidence),” continued Higgins. “We’ve knocked out a team with outstanding European pedigree, KuPS. They have Finnish internationals in their squad and a lot of highly rated young players as well.
“We’ve put them out and deservedly so. We were the better team over the two legs, there’s not a shadow of a doubt.
“Our players have shown the capacity and capabilities to reach really high levels and we need them to do it again.”
Higgins’ team has an opportunity to go further than any other Derry City team has gone in Europe with the play-offs within their grasp and the ambitious Brandywell boss would love to create another piece of history.
“And why not? Honestly, why not? There’s no doubt about it. To go through this tie we’re going to need a lot of them to be at a really high level. It’s going to be a really difficult place to go to but you only live once, and life is short. These opportunities don’t come around that often so we have to give it a crack while we’re there.”
