‘It's not inevitable' – Stephen Kenny warns St Pat's to ‘prepare for all eventualities' in Conference League clash

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

STEPHEN KENNY is looking for his side to take control this evening to avoid getting a kick in the Baltics.
Whilst
Kenny said: 'We can't assume anything. It's not inevitable, that just because Kalju are at home that they will play that way.
'We must prepare for all eventualities and we must try and establish some control on the game ourselves.
'Rather than looking for counter-attacks on the word go, we must look to establish some kind of control and try to score the first goal.'
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That is exactly what happened in the last round in nearby
running
out 3-0 winners on aggregate against Hegelmann.
And there is no doubt that Mason Melia's early goal in the away game left St Pat's in the
driving
seat
.
Kenny said: 'That early goal was a great help to us for sure but this is a different game completely, we're not relating to two games.
'We've got to be very determined and be ready to fight until the end here to get the result that we need.'
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He was coy on whether he would have anyone at the game between Shakhtar Donetsk and Besiktas in Istanbul with the losers of that tie St Pat's opponents in the
next
round, assuming they progress.
He said: 'From our point of view, we always do our preparation regardless. One thing we're not doing ourselves is looking beyond this game. It would be foolish to do so. I think this game itself will be hard-fought.
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'They are a level-headed group, they understand we are not at the level that we can dismiss anybody, Estonian teams have traditionally been tough opposition, we have to earn the right to win.
'To win in Estonia won't be easy but the players are playing well now in the last couple of weeks and really starting to take control of
the games
in a good way, although we need to convert more of our chances.'
St Pat's do know that if they can extend their run of consecutive clean sheets to a club
record
seven then they will be through.
And Kenny - traditionally an attack-minded coach - insisted that record was not just down to keeper Joseph Anang and his defence
He said: 'I suppose it's not been last-ditch defending. It's probably our ability to gain more control now in games because we've slightly changed the way we play.
'We're getting more control and that has probably taken a lot of pressure off our back four. I think that's certainly helped us but we need to do it in the most difficult games.
'That's what we need to show, we're not dwelling on that and we need to go fight hard in the European Conference League away from home and show our qualities.'
St Pat's
remain
without Romal Palmer and Sean Hoare, and Zack Elbouzedi who dislocated his shoulder in the first leg.
1
St Patrick's Athletic manager Stephen Kenny after the UEFA Conference League Second Qualifying Round first leg match against Nomme Kalju FC
Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile