“There were so many positives to take from the game last week.

“Obviously we would have preferred to have kept a clean sheet. We did that pre-season and we are very conscious of our defensive work. The Goalkeeping situation has helped with that but I think in terms of our general play, we created so many chances. The game had to be as open as it was to ask question of them.

“Fola deserve a lot of credit for their organisation. We highlighted a few players who had good moments in the game and on one or two occasions their players had an involvement in the game and showed what they are capable of. But more or less for 90 minutes we pinned them in our own half and our players deserve a lot of credit. They were strong, aggressive and played at a real tempo particularly in the second half.

“We kept going and we had two goals chopped off that should have stood in my opinion. We did not even let the set back of that stop us from getting the final result. As I say the players deserve credit for that. I thought the second half was a real game. It was played at the tempo we like to play at. On the back of having had that, it puts us in good stead going into this one.

“We don’t expect it to be any easier. We expect it to be tough. We do though expect to win the game and we should expect to win the game. We are a good side and we have shown that over the last couple of seasons.

“We have had some good results away from home in Europe. We have been to some difficult places and still managed to get away goals and had some good winning performances.

“Although we have got an advantage no one thinks we are home and dry. Experience tells us to get through in Europe you have to bring two decent performances over the two legs. We feel although we have had one, the onus is on us to try and improve on that again and get another strong performance to get us through.

“I don’t think we need to score but obviously we know the importance of scoring. We always feel there are goals in us. It will be different in the sense that Fola will have a different approach to the game at some point. Whether that is at the start of the game or during it. They know they will have to be a bit more expansive and commit more bodies forward at some stage.

“They showed good invention and good organisation with their own set plays so we have to be aware of that. They were a good side, a decent side, you could see they were well managed and coached. They deserve every respect. They are used to winning. That is something which should not be underplayed. They are a team who I think if they get any encouragement could cause problems. They showed that in little spells in the first game. We have to stay on top of them.

“They are strong at home. They are used to winning at home. However we are comfortable on the road and have been to some difficult places and got the results we wanted. That is what we are working towards. We have to have confidence in ourselves that we can come here and do well.

“We are still trying to look after Adam (Rooney). He has been out for five months. Whilst he has more of less done every day of training in pre-season, there has been a process to get him there. I have spoken often enough about the benefit of having Adam Rooney in my team. His goals have been terrific – 60 odd goals in 100 appearances. His goal return is fantastic. So I am delighted he is getting closer to being fully fit but like everyone else he has a bit to go to be at full pelt. Sometimes you can only get that from playing games. We are just delighted he has recovered from his tear in his thigh.

“The training has been good since we have come back. Three pre-season games in a week against decent opposition. It was an accelerated pre-season because of the shortage of time. You are never really sure if you are game ready but the performance last week helped us going into this one. Getting 90 minutes of competitive football under your belt is important.”

“The training has been good since we have come back. Three pre-season games in a week against decent opposition. It was an accelerated pre-season because of the shortage of time. You are never really sure if you are game ready but the performance last week helped us going into this one. Getting 90 minutes of competitive football under your belt is important.”