Richardson happy to leave well enough alone

Most of the hard works appears to be done. And yet, on closer inspection, Cork City face a task similar in stature to Damien Richardson's assessment of the Djurgardens IF back four: gargantuan.

With the Swedes needing to score it leaves the Turner's Cross side in a precarious position before entry is gained into the drum for tomorrow's first round Uefa cup draw. Backs to the wall and all that.

The achievement in Stockholm two weeks ago was commendable and, with George O'Callaghan returning from suspension, Cork run out on home soil in substantially better shape. Yet the form-guide still must be adhered to.

Since the courageous first-leg performance Richardson's men have ended Shelbourne's interests in the title race but allowed Derry City back into the equation. Now it becomes a case of swallowing erratic league form and retaining the balance shown in Europe.

"I would put last week's defeat to Derry down to fatigue amongst the players," said Richardson. "Also, Derry played like it was a cup final and produced their best performance of the season. We couldn't sustain our game for long periods of time and didn't do ourselves justice."

Djurgardens arrive on form and with six goals in their previous two league outings, which keep them top of their domestic pile, they will be confident of scoring a least one more tonight. That means Cork cannot sit back and let them dictate the tempo, which suits Richardson just fine.

"The onus is on them but I don't want to change our tactics. Okay, the element of surprise is gone but we showed them in Sweden that we can create as many attacking opportunities as they can so they will be aware of the huge challenge that awaits them.

"People were surprised that we didn't change our normal style for the away leg and how successful it was so I dare not change it."

The other threats are the visitors' ability to engineer goals from several different departments and they also unleashed two naturally attack-minded players for the second half the last day in Ibrahim Ba and Patrick Amoah.

"They have a gargantuan back four, all over six foot two, and they are all dangerous from set-pieces.

"The players know to try and avoid such situations. I anticipate a game with end-to-end action, as both teams are capable of creating plenty of chances."

In the end it will come down to Cork keeping calm in the storm that Djurgardens are sure to whip up.

It is a little early in the progression of this Cork team to be mature enough to handle this standard but the Stockholm result still stands.

"Yeah, it will be a mental more than physical demand," admitted Richardson, "but that's the real beauty of our success in Europe as it opened our minds to the challenge we will face in the long term."

Also, they are in their own house, which should be enough for them to fly the National league flag on the continent at least one more time before getting back to securing a place in the Champions League qualifiers for next season.

CORK CITY (probable): Devine; Horgan, Bennett, Murray, Murphy; O'Donovan, Gamble, O'Halloran, Kearney; Fenn, O'Flynn.

DJUGARDENS IF (probable): Tourray; Concha, Kuivasto, Johannesson, Stenman; Arneng, Hysen, Barsom; Jonson, Kusi-Asare, Sjolund.

Referee: L Wilmes (Luxembourg).