Cork City are rank outsiders to progress past Metalurgs Liepaja in the first round of the Intertoto Cup, but City boss Liam Murphy remains hopeful that his side can pull off a shock in Latvia next Saturday.
The Munster side fell to a 1-0 loss at Turner's Cross in the first leg on Saturday last, missing a penalty in injury time and giving away a very cheap goal.
They now need to beat Metalurgs in Latvia, which would be quite an achievement. The Latvian League is in full-swing, while the League is asleep here for another couple of months. But Murphy is an optimist.
"We still can do it," he said. "Away games in Europe bare little resemblance to home ties. There was little difference between the sides."
"I can't fault my players - they gave me everything. And we will certainly be better for that game under our belts next week. It was disappointing to lose... but I thought we deserved a draw for our efforts."
Pat Morley's penalty miss was an especially bitter blow. Ollie Cahill's header was going in, until visiting defender Soloviev deliberately handled to prevent the hosts equalising.
"At games like that, you feel that there isn't any justice," said Murphy. "The ball was going in and a draw was ours, but then they broke the rules and we failed to punish them for it."
Metalurgs' goal was a result of an error by Declan Daly, who made a mess of his clearance on a rather bumpy surface. "The bumpy conditions led to Declan's mistake," said the City boss.
"In the eircom League, you'll make mistakes, and sometimes get away with them. At this level, you get punished. But I can be proud of that performance.
"They're a professional side in mid-season; we're largely part-time and have played our first game in five weeks. We matched them for effort, fitness and desire. Look at their reaction at the end of the match: they celebrated as if they'd won the World Cup."
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