Cork City open their European campaign on Saturday against Icelandic side Valur in the Intertoto Cup in Reykjavik, kick-off 9.00pm (Irish time).
It is the first time that the Rebel Army will face Icelandic opposition in their history and manager Damien Richardson has a few injury concerns going into the game with Colm Carroll missing with a cruciate injury and Brian O’Callaghan is definitely out with a groin strain.
The ‘FIFA Two’ of Gareth Farrelly and Colin Healy must wait a little longer before making their debuts for the club.
Apart from that, Richardson has a full squad to choose from, and he is looking forward to another European campaign.
‘There is a huge sense of anticipation amongst all here at the club as we enter another European campaign,’ said the City boss.
‘There is a great sense of the unknown about our opposition, however we now know enough about playing in Europe to know that any team we face at this level will present us with a stern challenge, and it is up to us to perform.
‘We know that we must play to our potential, and that we have to give a performance of maximum effort and quality if we are to get the required result.’
City were beaten 3-0 by Red Star Belgrade in their last European game, while their last Intertoto fixture ended in a very respectable 1-1 draw with French side Nantes.
Derry City will be amongst 14 seeded clubs for the draw for the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
As a seeded club, they will be drawn against one of the following clubs: BATE Borisov (Bls); SK Tirana (Alb); Levadia Tallinn (Est); Pyunik Yerevan (Arm); Khazar Lenkoran (Azb); FK Astana (Kaz); Linfield (Nir); The New Saints (Wal); HB Torshavn (Far); F91 Dudelange (Lux); Marsaxlokk (Mlt); Rangers FC (And); Murata (Sma); Zeta Golubovci (Mon).
The UEFA Cup draw will be conducted on a regionalised and seeded basis. Drogheda United and St. Patrick’s Athletic are most likely to be in the Northern Region and unseeded.
In such an event, they would face opponents from either Denemark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway or Sweden. The exact composition of the regions (Northern; Southern / Eastern; Southern / Mediterranean) and the seeded clubs will be decided by UEFA on Wednesday, June 27th.
Both draws will take place on Friday, June 29th at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The draw for the Champions League will take place at 11am Irish time, while the draw for the UEFA will start at 12.30pm Irish time.
