Farrelly is confident of passage

InterToto Cup: Bohemians manager Gareth Farrelly has an unchanged squad for this evening's second-leg tie in Gent, where the…

InterToto Cup: Bohemians manager Gareth Farrelly has an unchanged squad for this evening's second-leg tie in Gent, where the Dubliners will be defending a single-goal advantage against the Belgian outfit.

"It'll be tough for us," said Farrelly yesterday. "You could see in patches the sort of ability they have and I'm sure they'll make things a lot harder for us over here. It's going to be important for us to keep the ball and make them work very hard, but if we can do that then we're certainly in with a very good chance of going through."

Given the limited options open to him, Farrelly is unlikely to make many changes to the side that won at Dalymount Park last weekend, but Fergal Harkin could come back in on the right side of midfield for the less experienced John Paul Kelly, who has impressed since breaking into the side but struggled to make an impression in the home leg against some very strong opponents.

The heat is likely to be a factor in this evening's game, with temperatures touching 35 degrees in the Belgian city over the past couple of days, but the visiting players should still have an edge over the hosts in fitness - the locals have been in training for only 10 days.

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"I think if it's still very warm at kick-off time then fitness will be an issue, but they'll be that bit sharper than they were a week ago. The main question, though, is how good they are going forward.

"People talking to me about them beforehand said they would come to Dublin looking for a nil-all draw, which they did, but that they'd be a lot more positive over here and that's what we expect.

"It's going to a hard night, but we all believe we can make it through to the next round."

KAA Gent (0) v Bohemians (1)

Venue: Arteveldestadion

Kick-off: 6pm (Irish time)

Emmet Malone

Emmet Malone

Emmet Malone is Work Correspondent at The Irish Times