DERRY CITY CARRY the League of Ireland’s last European chance into their Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor tonight.
Derry lost 4-2 in Turkey last week but goals from David McDaid and Paddy Kavanagh give the Candystripes a glimmer of hope ahead of the second leg in the Brandywell.
Manager Declan Devine is confident that his side can spring a shock, provided they score the first goal.
But Derry will also need to keep Trabzonspor’s danger men quiet if they are to have any chance of progressing to the next round where either Dinamo Minsk or Lokomotiv Zagreb lie in wait.
Here’s a quick look at the visitors’ main threats:
Olcan Adin
The winger was a complete nuisance in Turkey last week and had a direct hand in Trabzonspor’s three first-half goals.
A difficult man to peg down, he seemed equally at ease on both the right and the left while his darting run through the middle slipped the Derry back four and led to the game’s opening goal.
He is a threat from set pieces as well and it was his free-kick, flighted into the no-man’s land between Ger Doherty and his defenders, that came off the head of Barry Molloy for Trabzonspor’s third.
Adrian Mierzejewski
Mierzejewski was identified as Trabzonspor’s main threat by Declan Devine in the lead-up to last weekend’s first leg; it took just 10 minutes for the Polish international to fulfill that prophecy with an acrobatic overhead kick from close range that gave Doherty no chance.
Although he’s usually found in a more creative role behind Paolo Henrique, Mierzejewski is well able to take chances too when they present themselves and scored 13 times in the league and cup last season. It was his corner that was headed home by Kacar to give Trabzonspor their two-goal cushion.
Volkan Sen
Once labelled “Turkey’s answer to Marc Overmars,” Volkan Sen has never really lived up to that prophecy but showed that he can still be a handful last week. His vision to pick out Adin led to the game’s opening goal and he was unlucky not to score himself, testing Doherty on a number of occasions.
A real livewire and a man that Derry’s full-backs will have to work hard to contain.
