Derry impress Lacombe

Uefa Cup: PSG manager Guy Lacombe has insisted the Parisians will take nothing for granted ahead of their Uefa Cup first-round…

Uefa Cup: PSG manager Guy Lacombe has insisted the Parisians will take nothing for granted ahead of their Uefa Cup first-round match with Derry City after watching Stephen Kenny's side beat Shelbourne 1-0 in the FAI Cup at Tolka Park on Sunday .

"I didn't know anything about Irish football when the draw was made so I could not say whether or not it was a good draw for PSG," he said. "This was my first opportunity to discover some things about them and I can tell you we will be treating our opponents very seriously.

"Derry," he added, "are a good team who are going to give us a difficult match, both in the first and second leg. They are a side who put remarkable pressure on the ball and, when they have it, they are able to use it themselves. In defence they are also strong. Their opponents (Shelbourne) exerted a lot of pressure but they did not have too many opportunities because of how Derry defended."

The 51-year-old singled out Darren Kelly, Kevin Deery and Barry Molloy as key men for the northerners but suggested the speed of City's game was likely to be the main problem for his men. "Derry play with a lot of aggression and with a high tempo and I would imagine they will try to play in the same style against us, with the same velocity," he said. "I didn't know anything about them before the draw but afterwards I looked at their results and I saw they played a Scottish team and beat them 5-1 away from home. That makes you think that they are strong.

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"And, of course," he concluded, "they had defeated IFK Gothenberg in the previous round. I know a little bit about them (the Swedes) and their tradition so that was an impressive achievement."

Derryhave confirmed the first leg of the Uefa Cup tie, due to be played on September 14th, will be played at the Brandywell.

Emmet Malone

Emmet Malone

Emmet Malone is Work Correspondent at The Irish Times