Lilywhites cannot take FCB Magpies clash for granted

Stephen O’Donnell doesn’t necessarily accept his Dundalk FC side’s tag as favourites going into the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifier against FCB Magpies.

The Lilywhites open their European campaign this Thursday against the Gibraltarian Cup winners at Victoria Stadium (kick-off, 5pm), before the second leg takes place a week later at Oriel Park, where tickets were placed on general sale on Monday.

Dundalk will become the first-ever League of Ireland club to face a team from Gibraltar and are heavily fancied to reach the next round, but O’Donnell is wary of the pressure of playing against the third-lowest ranked team in the competition and what that brings.

“I don’t think any Irish team’s in a position to say they are overwhelming favourites,” he warned. “These are a good side. I watched them against Preston. They’re a good team. There was nothing in the game. At half-time, they were 0-0, so these are a good team.

“We have to give them respect. We’re the seeded team, they’re the unseeded team. They weren’t going to be devastated with the draw either.

“Definitely from our point of view, it’s going to be a very tough game. Our whole target last season was to get to Europe to look forward to July time for games like this, so we’ll prepare well over the weekend and get our players accustomed to Magpies.

“Obviously, we’re looking forward to playing in Europe. It’s where everybody wants to be.”

In addition to their cup success, Magpies finished third in their domestic league, with this just their second European venture after being eliminated by Crusaders last season. 

However, much has changed in the off-season for Magpies, who have made 10 new signings, while ex-Sevilla full-back Alfonso Cortijo has come in as their new manager, making research material for O’Donnell and his backroom team somewhat limited.

Dundalk’s head coach added: “They’ve brought players in that haven’t played, so it’s very hard to get relevant footage of what we’re going to be facing. They’ve brought a good few bodies in, so they’re a different face from what they were last season.

“Obviously, they’ll have footage of us from our league campaign. So that’s going to be a little bit tricky too.”

Cortijo’s acquisitions include experienced left-back Joseph Chipolina, who has over 50 caps for Gibraltar, while English striker Liam Nash, who had a brief stint with Cork City in 2019, has also linked up with the squad. Gibraltar internationals Scott Ballantine, Kyle Casciaro, Jamie Coombes and Anthony Hernandez are also part of the Magpies panel.

Dundalk themselves have made a new signing ahead of this tie, with Scottish defender Darren Brownlie joining the club last Thursday on a free transfer from Partick Thistle.

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The 29-year-old has accumulated over 200 appearances in the Scottish Football League for clubs such as Ayr United, Cowdenbeath, Queen of the South and Partick, and could possibly make his Dundalk bow against Magpies at Victoria Stadium this coming week.

“We’re happy to get Darren in,” said O’Donnell. “He joint up with us on Tuesday in Gibraltar, so we’re looking forward to working with him.

“I don’t know (if he will feature). We’ll see where we’re at. He last played on June the 4th, in the play-off game against Ross County, so we’ll see where we’re at. He has his running programme. He had to go back home over the last couple of days and we’ll see where his fitness is.”

If, as expected, Dundalk overcome Magpies, they will face the winners of the tie involving Connah’s Quay Nomads (Wales) and KA Akureyri (Iceland) in the second qualifying round, with the first leg scheduled to be away from home on July 27th.

Connah’s Quay are playing their home European games at Park Hall in Oswestry, the same venue where Dundalk faced Newtown in the Europa Conference League in 2021.

KA are based approximately 400km from Reykjavik, but in order to meet competition requirements, will be contesting their home matches at Fram Reykjavik’s stadium.

Success in the first qualifying round against Magpies would guarantee Dundalk a prize of €350,000; the same against Connah’s Quay or KA would net €550,000; advancement to the play-off round and group stages are respectively worth €750,000 and €2,940,000.

However, although O’Donnell recognises the aforementioned stakes add pressure, he insists that he and his players are only focused on the footballing aspect of the upcoming tasks.

“It’s massive for us, for sure,” he admitted. “Of course it does (add pressure). But that doesn’t factor into my thinking, to be honest.

“I’m not approaching the game thinking about whether there’s a nest egg after this round. It’s just solely going to be focused on our performance, and the opposition we’re up against, and a game of football.”