Thursday, July 14, 2011

Linfield face daunting BATE test

Venue: Windsor ParkDate: 13 JulyKick-off: 1945 BSTCoverage: Live online commentary on BBC Sport NI websiteLinfield face highly-rated Belarus side BATE Borisov in Wednesday's Champions League second qualifying round first leg at Windsor Park

Linfield will face a daunting task in Wednesday's Champions League second qualifying round first leg against Belarus side FC BATE at Windsor Park.

BATE qualified for the group stages of the Champions League three seasons ago and have also made the Europa League group stages over the past two years.

Keeper Alan Blayney should be fit for Linfield but Gary Browne, Michael Gault and Damien Curran are all ruled out.

BATE's squad includes the highly-rated Pavel Neyhaychyk.

Neyhaychyk played for the Belarus Under-21 side that recently finished third at the European Championship finals and his impressive form has helped BATE to forge an eight-point lead at the top of their domestic league.

Uefa rate BATE, or BATE Borisov to give them their full title, as the best side involved in the second qualifying round stage.

In recent seasons, the current Belarus champions have drawn at home and away against Italian giants Juventus and also registered a win over Premier League side Everton.

"They are a very good side," agrees Linfield manager David Jeffrey.

"Our friends at Rangers have sent us across three DVDs and we've been able to source two more from our own contacts.

"We have copious amounts of notes of who can do what and how they can play.

"They are a formidible side but I take heart from several seasons when we have done fantastically well in Europe - particuarly against Rosenberg and Dynamo Zagreb.

"It will have to be something close to those performances to come out with any sort of good result."

Summer signings Albert Watson and Daryl Fordyce are in line to make their competitive debuts for Linfield.

Blayney looks likely to recover from a groin injury to start but Browne, Gault and Curran are missing because of injury.


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