Tallinn's main square is sea of claret and blue
converged on the Estonian
capital Tallinn for tonight's
(Wednesday's)
Champions League tie
against Levadia, with the
Drogs on the brink of
setting up a dream clash
against mighty Dynamo
Kiev.
Paul Doolin's men lead
2-1 from the first leg, and
they will face the
Ukrainian champions and
former Uefa Cup winners
at Dalymount Park next
Tuesday night if they can
avoid losing 1-0 or by a
bigger margin than one
goal.
At a press conference
yesterday, Tuesday, the
focus was very much on
Levadia, however, with no
mention of Kiev at all.
Doolin, flanked by
players Ollie Cahill and
Dan Connor, said
Drogheda would not be
trying to play defensively
for a 0-0 draw.
'We can't afford to
make the mistake we
made in the first leg again,
but we have a good group
of players with good
quality and we have goals
in us, and we certainly
won't be sitting back.
'It's going to be a
different game. Fellas tend
to have their chests out
when they are at home
and that's the way it will be
with Levadia.'
Cahill, enjoying his
11th consecutive season of
European football, also
warned that the Estonians
would be dangerous if
Drogheda gave them too
much leeway, but pointed
out that the days of Irish
teams regularly falling at
the first hurdle in Europe
were over.
'It was a different game
before. Now there are
different managers and
coaches and we are better
prepared physically, and
we have to take
confidence from the
results Irish teams have
been getting in Europe,' he
said.
The squad were due to
train at 6.30 yesterday
evening in the Kadrioru
Stadium, venue for this
evening's game, with Paul
Keegan needing to prove
his fitness after suffering a
dead leg last week. Apart
from Shane Robinson and
Brian Shelley, Drogheda
will otherwise be at full
strength.
Levadia opted not to
send any representatives
to yesterday's conference,
and Doolin hinted that
arrangements with the
Estonians have not gone
entirely smoothly.
'I don't get too caught
up with what they do, but
the main thing is that don't
mess around with things
like water.
'We got some yesterday
afternoon - just 20 bottles
- but there was a physio's
table due and I'm still not
sure whether it is here.'
Meanwhile, the
impressive main square in
Tallinn was a sea of claret
and blue yesterday as
Drogheda fans gathered in
advance of the game. Most
had travelled via either
Heathrow, Prague or
Frankfurt, but many opted
to fly from Stansted,
knowing that they faced a
15-hour wait in the airport
for their connecting flight.
