Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic are both in UEFA Conference League action this evening as they continue their chase of league stage football.
The Hoops are in Kosovo for their third qualifying round first leg clash with Ballkani while St Pat’s are at home as they welcome Turkish side Besiktas to Tallaght Stadium.
Stephen Bradley’s side have the easier tie on paper as they take on the runners-up from last season’s Superleague campaign.
Ballkani, like Rovers, have enjoyed success on the European stage, making it to the group stages of the Conference League during the 23/24 season.
They bowed out of the Conference League at this stage of the competition last season, losing to Irish League side Larne on penalties after losing their home tie 1-0 and winning 1-0 away.
A 4-2 home victory over Maltese side Floriana in the last round along with a 1-1 draw in the away leg was enough for Ballkani to progress but that home win was their first in six attempts, suggesting that Rovers can get at their hosts.
Ballkani’s record of conceding eight goals in those eight games will give Rovers belief that they can take a lead back to Tallaght, as will the form of striker Rory Gaffney who is in a rich vein of form and comes into the game off the back of a brace against Derry City at the weekend.
Gaffney now has eight goals in the last 12 games, having missed much of the early stages of the season through injury and looks ready to make his mark in Europe.
Graham Burke and midfielder Jack Byrne are both in line to start, having been rested against Derry City but Rovers are waiting on the fitness of defender Dan Cleary, who went off injured against the Candystripes.
Gaffney admits that he doesn’t know too much about Ballkani, who are currently going through their pre-season campaign, with the Kosovan Superleague running from August to May.
“It’s a step into the unknown,” Gaffney said. “I don’t think anyone has played a team from Kosovo before. I know a couple of their players were playing for Shkupi and Celje, teams we’ve come up against before. I’m sure they’ll be good, they always are.
“You don’t know what you’re going to get so there’s always that bit of uncertainty in the first leg.
“Over there, the weather is going to be warm. Thankfully, it’s a grass pitch, not an astro this time.
“We’d back ourselves that if we turn up, we’ll give a good account of ourselves and be there or thereabouts. If we bring them back to Tallaght, we’ll be a match for anyone.”
While Ballkani may be unfamiliar to many football fans, St Patrick’s Athletic’s opponents are worryingly familiar.
The Saints take on a side that are European regulars when it comes to group stage football as Turkish outfit Besiktas are a side with a genuine European pedigree and with a Champions League winner at the helm.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge of Besiktas in January, his first managerial role since parting company with Manchester United in 2021, but despite only being seven month into the job, Solskjaer is coming under pressure.
A fourth-place finish in the Turkish Super Lig saw Besiktas start their European campaign in the Europa League before a surprise 6-2 defeat on aggregate to Shakhtar Donetsk saw them drop into the Conference League.
The winners of this tie will face either Larne or Portuguese side Santa Clara in the play-off round, with the losers exiting Europe for the season, so anything but a victory for the Turkish side would be considered a disaster.
Solskjaer has a wealth of internationals at his disposal, with household names like Tammy Abraham, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Joao Mario and Gabriel Paulista all plying their trade in Istanbul.
Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss the trip to Dublin, sidelined with a ligament issue, while midfielders Mustafa Hekimoglu and Can Keles are also out.
Saints also have injury worries of their own as Zach Elbouzedi picked up a shoulder injury in the last round of the Conference League which will see him miss this rest of the season, while Sean Hoare and Romal Palmer are also out of action, along with Aidan Keena.
With a growing injury list, the Saints have been forced to dip into the transfer market and have signed attacker Jordon Garrick on a short-term deal
The winger was most recently with Forest Green Rovers and has made over 130 appearances in English League football, from his beginnings at Swansea City to spells at Swindon Town, Plymouth Argyle and Lincoln City.
Garrick (27) has penned a four-month contract and trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Tuesday.
Despite the injury woes and the quality of the opposition his side are facing, Kenny believes the Saints can cause a major upset.
“We’ve played against some good European teams and put in performances over the last year,” he said. “So we can take confidence from those experiences and take it into the game.
“You have to draw on all your experiences, they come into play. But equally, it is a different challenge. We did play Basaksehir last year so the players have experience of playing a top Turkish team and gained some experience in that regard.
“It would be one of the great victories in Irish football history if we could do it. It’s a big challenge, Besiktas have a tremendous tradition and are an institution in Turkey.”
