Christy Fagan hopes the Europa League can bring out the best in him once again as St Patrick's Athletic begin what they hope will be the start of another continental adventure against Zalgiris in Vilnius tonight.

Fresh from hitting a brace in the league win over Bray Wanderers last Friday, Fagan now turns his attention to a competition he’s scored four times in over the last two years.

“It’s been going well for me. Touch wood, I’ll manage to get a chance and stick one in tonight,” said Fagan. “I think we will score. We’re confident we can come here, create chances and keep it tight at the back.”

Both sides go into the tie top of the table in respective leagues of a similar standard and Fagan expects there will be little in it over the two legs.

“They’ll come into it fairly confident, given their position top of the table. But likewise we’re coming here feeling confident that we can nick something.”

Recent experience
Given their experiences of recent years, manager Liam Buckley is quietly confident St. Patrick's can keep the tie alive for next week. Zalgiris are in scintillating form this season sitting six points clear at the top of the Lithuanian 'A Lyga'.

They could start with up to eight internationals, marshalled by 84-times capped Andrius Skerla in central defence while the big threat up front comes from Polish international Kamil Bilinski who has scored 13 times this season.

But Buckley has done his homework and believes his side can do themselves justice. “We need to bring our A game to this,” said Buckley. “I’ve no doubt we’ll do that. We’re a decent team and it’s how we pass it and how we play as a team that will dictate how we get through this tie.

“They are top of their table having won 14 of their 17 games. They’ve scored 47 as against just six conceded, which is a tremendous stat.

“They’ve beaten Ekranas, who beat Shamrock Rovers last year, 2-0 and 3-0, so we know they’re a decent outfit. They also play on an all-weather pitch which looks fairly tight.”