Kilduff hungry for European opportunity

Dundalk striker Ciaran Kilduff admits that it will be special feeling when he hears the Champions League anthem ring out around Oriel Park ahead of Wednesday night’s clash with FH Hafnarfjördur.

The 27-year-old missed out on Dundalk’s tie with Belarusian champions, BATE Borisov last season, signing in the aftermath of the Lilywhites’ exit from the competition.

And Kilduff also thought his chances of playing in Europe’s premier competition this year had gone up in smoke when he suffered two broken vertebrae in the EA Sports Cup tie with Pat’s on April 18.

“When I got the injury I remember asking did I have any hope for Europe because it was looking bleak at that stage,” he said.

“I wanted something to aim at and luckily I came back five or six weeks earlier than I imagined so I can’t wait for the game to come around.”

Kilduff is one of three Dundalk players who were part of the Shamrock Rovers squad that qualified for the group stages of the Europa League in 2011.

Rovers beat Estonian champions Flora Tallinn 1–0 on aggregate in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, before falling to a 3–0 aggregate defeat against Danish side, FC Copenhagen in the subsequent stage.

Qualifying for that third qualifying round presented Rovers with an opportunity of booking a place in the Europa League group stages and Stephen O’Donnell’s penalty against Partizan Belgrade in Serbia, giving Rovers a 3–2 win on aggregate, secured the Hoops their spot and their place in Irish football history.

“There’s a few of us in the dressing room here who know what’s behind the door if we can win the first tie against FH,” said Kilduff.

“It’s a huge incentive for us,” he continued. “For countries like Ireland, I feel it’s the correct way to look at getting into the Europa League,” he continued.

“When we were at Rovers we got the draw we wanted in the first round against Tallinn. They were of an equal standard to us and we were lucky to turn them over.

“That gives you two cracks of the whip after that. It’s be great to sit down and watch another Champions League draw and know that if that doesn’t work out, you still have an opportunity of qualifying for the Europa League group stages.

“I think other teams in the country find it hard going through qualifying round after qualifying round in the Europa League because you eventually get snuffed out.

“This way, there is a real opportunity to get to the group stages, but that’s looking too far ahead, and we can only think about that if we can beat FH.”

Dundalk are flying high going into the double header against the Icelandic champions. Since returning from the mid-season break, the Lilywhites have picked up maximum points from their three games and hold a nine point lead over Cork City at the top of the SSE Airtricity League table.

“We didn’t want to be going into the European games looking back at points that we threw away. We wanted to go into them with clear heads and a lead at the top of the table,” said Kilduff.

“I don’t think anybody can have any complaints about our reaction since losing the game against Cork City before the break. We’ve beaten St Pat’s, won 5–0 in Derry and although it was a crazy game, we managed to do the business against Longford.

“What we have now is an opportunity against FH,” he concluded. “We don’t know much about them and likewise with us but we’ll prepare well and get as much information as we can. We’re probably the draw they wanted but we just want to try and keep the momentum going.”