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Without "Sūduva", the current leader of the Lithuanian championship will play the UEFA Europa League match on Thursday. At S.Darius and S.Girenas Stadium, the country's vice-champions will meet the "Portadown" club from Northern Ireland and will seek to maintain the advantage gained in the first match and progress further.
Kaunas vs Portadown
Referee - Johannes Valgeirsson (Iceland)
Kickoff: 20:00 Lithuanian time
In the first match, which took place two weeks ago in Portadown, the Kaunas team easily won 3-1. On that occasion, Georgian Nukri Manchkava and Bosnian Edin Pehličius scored two quick goals, while in the beginning of the second half, Andrius Velička, the top scorer of the A Lyga, added one more.
After the victory, the head coach of Kaunas, Eugenijus Riabovas, acknowledged that the opponents' team falls short in skill compared to his team. Nevertheless, as reported by "Kauno diena," the Kaunas team is taking the match very seriously.
"We don't want the team to feel complacent. We, the coaches, are doing everything so that the players don't start thinking that the goal has already been achieved. We reviewed the video of the first match, analyzed the mistakes. We are trying to prepare the team for a serious fight," Riabovas told "Kauno diena."
Riabovas stated that the Northern Irish players are skilled in the "second tier" and have a tall central midfielder who is good at playing with his head. "We know this very well, so we diversified our training. We even came up with special exercises." he added.
Kaunas' coach said that his players will be well prepared for the match against Portadown and he believed in their success. One of the most productive players of the team, Edin Pehličius, also had no doubt about their victory, stating that "we will definitely reach the next stage of the competition."
Kaunas has no new injury problems, except for defender Tadas Kijanskas and goalkeeper Givi Kvaratskhelia, who are still recovering. On the other hand, Portadown captain John Convery injured his thigh and missed the friendly match against "Institute," that his team won 2-0.
Despite the injury, the team's strategist Ronnie McFallas said he was ready to risk his captain because he is the only experienced center-back in the club: "Our defensive problems have been obvious recently, and that is why I'm willing to take a risk with Convery. We lack enough experience in that line, and although I believe that the young players of the team have all the abilities to enter the starting lineup, I think it would be foolish to let them onto the field in European competitions. Convery was treated on Monday evening, and we hope he will recover in time."
Portadown has never won in away matches in European tournaments in its history, but defender Richard Clarke said he is not afraid of the opponents. "They have a good team with many good players, but we definitely have nothing to fear. As soon as we got into the game, we felt that we are not inferior to them, and if not for those early goals, we would have caused them problems before the second leg. If we maintain discipline and defend well, I hope we can achieve a good result. I'm not saying we will win the match or the tie, but we want to compete and force them to fight for a spot in the next stage.".
