Over to you Vinny.

Vinny Perth will enter his sixth season taking on Europe’s elite tonight. Yesterday he spoke at length about what it takes to compete at this level. Here are the highlights of yesterdays press conference.

On the side preparations

We’re very close to full fitness. We have minor issues with one or two players. Jordan Flores is a medium-term injury but beyond that, we’re very close to full fitness. The three games in a week has its downfalls but it gave us an opportunity to get people fit over the last week and I think we’re in a really good place and the squad is in a really good place.

On our opponents Riga FC

We’ve seen them live four times at this stage. Ruaidhrí and Stephen O’Donnell seen the live, I’ve seen them live and John has seen them live so we’ve all seen them live. They’re a big, physical strong team but they’re technically very good as well. Some of their attacking play is really strong. That’s probably the strongest part of their team, their attacking front four. They’ve 12 internationals so they’re obviously a very, very experienced team and they’ve strengthened the squad over the last four weeks. They’ve brought in three, four or maybe even five players after the draw was made so I presume they see an opportunity to progress. They seem in a good place. They’re on top of their league and going well.

I personally was at the defeat. They were the better side but they had a man sent off after 39 minutes. They ended up playing well with a 4–4–1 formation. It was against the bottom team but they were quite good. Some other teams in the league were nowhere near the standards of that team but the game turned on 39 minutes with the second yellow card. We’ve seen their games, some of their defeats and their draws. They play a certain way, they stick to that and they’re very strong at that and they’re quite good at it.

On the tie itself

We’ve been here before where we haven’t had leads. Obviously at home we will try and get a lead. Clean sheets, as much as possible, are very important in Europe and we’ve always fancied ourselves to score goals. Leading is not the be-all and end-all.

Players tend to go into that mode where they’re really focused. Sean Gannon will be really focused on their left winger and he wants to know all the details about him. He just wants to beat his man and then the team development comes on the back of that. I don’t see that as a concern internally but it’s definitely a concern externally where people think Latvian football is not as strong as Irish football. The players respect them. They’re a good side and there’s definitely a level of respect there.

Dundalk FC and making its name in Europe.

We’ve built that name around Europe over the last few years at a certain level but TNS were in our side of the draw so they probably wanted TNS first and us second to stay away from the likes of BATE Borisov, which is understandable because we were in that exact same position. Our seeding obviously helps us but unseeded teams will always try to knock out seeded teams so there is nothing beyond that.

Brian Gartland — Captain and Guardian of the town.

Brian Gartland just signed a new deal today. He did get injured before the BATE Borisov game where he broke a wrist in the game before. In January when the structure in the club changed with Stephen leaving, Brian has been a real rock for us. We lost Stephen O’Donnell out of the dressing room and for me I felt it was important to have Brian at the club for as long as possible. He’s someone who lives here, he’s married to a girl from there area and who is expecting a baby so this is like his home town club now and he’s very much in the middle of it. He has been a real rock for all the management team. He also has a huge amount to offer on the pitch. He has got himself very close to the levels he was at in 2016. This is the fittest he has been in such a long time. He’s ahead of where he should be for someone of his age but his job is to inspire the likes of Dan Cleary to become something like what Brian has in playing so many big games.

Playing as a team and the importance of the quality of the side.

I think the difference is that Brian Gartland has started 18 games, Daniel Cleary has started 18 games, Dane Massey has started 18 games, Dean Jarvis has started 17 and Sean Hoare has started 22. Sean Gannon then has basically played every moment so whatever happens, if we get an injury five minutes into the game or yellow cards or sending offs, we’re really well covered and we’ve never really been in that position certainly as long as I’ve been here. It probably caught us out in Larnaca last year because if you remember Sean Gannon missed a game and Sean Hoare had to come in and Dean Jarvis played who had been out of the team so we were disjointed in Larnaca last year through bad luck and being out of form. I’ve never experienced us being in that position that we’re in now so it’s a real positive.

You always are learning…espeically in defeat.

It is important that you learn from it. We lost heavily on the night but I said it at the time that I wouldn’t let 45 minutes of football cloud any of our judgement in terms of what we’ve done. I would remember six or seven years of European football over just 45 minutes. We got punished for big mistakes and people out of form over 45 minutes. We paid the penalty for it but we definitely have learnt from that. We’ve spoken about it internally and we’ve moved on from it. This now is an opportunity to put things right.

A second debut perhaps?

I would feel pressure if this was my first game but it’s my 25th. I won’t let anyone undervalue what I brought to the table in Europe over the last six or seven years but at the same time if we have any success I won’t let anyone overplay what I bring to the table over the next month, two months or whatever it may be. I feel I brought a lot to the table over the last six or seven years so that in my eyes takes a little bit of pressure away because I’ve achieved quite a lot in Europe as a coach.

The class of 2016 to the class of 2019? Comparing and contrasting.

No matter whether it’s Messi or Maradona, I just don’t believe in comparing eras. I think the game has moved on, there’s the luck of the draw and who you play against. I’d certainly love to see a game between our 2016 side and this side. They have slightly different attributes but they’re very small and some are slightly forced in terms of how we play because of different personnel but I’d find it difficult to answer that question because I’ve such a close bond to that 2016 side and obviously this side means the world to me so I’d find it difficult to answer that but for me? Maradona. He’d get kicked up and down the pitch and people would get arrested if they touched Messi like that.

On the team and Sean Gannon.

We’ve obviously been on a really good run and the form of some of the players has really helped that. Sean Gannon has really been a leader. We used to call him Sean Gannon Young Player of the Year up until about two years ago but he’s a real senior player now. He has definitely taken on some leadership in the group since we got back together in January.