Next up - Aalesund (a)

Craig Brown and his merry men have to ensure that they return with a score that gives us a realistic chance of winning the tie at Fir Park next week.  The much sought after away goal (or 2!) would give us a great chance at home but the manager would probably settle for a no-score draw.

A goalless encounter on the artificial surface would mean that a win in the second leg would see us progress.  If we can’t win on our own patch then we probably don’t deserve to win the tie.

To that end it would not be a surprise if we send out the same defensive eleven that earned a win in Iceland last week.  Murphy will lead the attack and Sutton will be some yards behind. 

Aalesund seem to rely on the big striker when they go forward.  Tor Hogne Aarøy is the target and much of our strategy will be designed to stop the supply of high crosses on which he feeds.  Defending in advanced positions will be important.

It has to be hoped that the two competitive games against Breidablik have given us enough match sharpness to compete with a team already in mid-season.  If so we should be well up for the task and it might be that we are able to finish the job in front of a big crowd at Fir Park – 0-0 will do nicely.