‘It will require a huge effort from us all’, says Keena

Aidan Keena says that he and his Sligo Rovers team mates will have to be at their best if they are progess to the next qualifying round of the Europa Conference League by seeing off Motherwell in The Showgrounds on Thursday evening.

Mullingar native Keena's 27th=minute goal in Fir Park on Thursday evening last gives Sligo a precious lead going into this week's second leg of their Europa Conference League second qualifying round tie.

The former Mullingar Athletic player, who is currently the leading scorer in the League of Ireland Premier Division, chalked up another addition to his collection of spectacular goals when he lobbed Motherwell keeper Liam Kelly from 14 yards after he intercepted an undercooked headed back pass by Bevis Mugabi.

Sligo were under pressure for periods of the match and keeper Luke McNicholas, who is the team's new number one following Ed McGinty's recent transfer to Oxford United, had to pull off a number of good saves to keep Motherwell scoreless going into Thursday's tie at what will be a sold out Showgrounds.

However, aside from Keena's goal, the Bit O'Red had a couple of opportunities to extend their lead, including one chance in the 77th minute when Keena set up substitute Max Mata with a perfectly timed pass. However, the New Zealander failed to finish.

In the 84th minute, referee Kari Hovdanum also appeared to deny Sligo what looked like a clear penalty after the ball struck Jake Carroll's arm in the penalty area following a header from Mata.

If they progress to the next round they will face either either Norwegian side Viking FX or Slavia Prague. In order to do so, Keena says that Sligo will have to put in another big shift in front of their home crowd. He's confident that if Sligo perform, they will make it through.

“It will require a huge effort from us all. We will need to go in with confidence that we can get it over the line. We all know that it is going to be a tough ask. There will be a lot of hard work and a lot of digging in, but I think we can get through it.”

On Friday, one Scottish newspaper said that Motherwell had been beaten by “Irish minnows”. Keena, who recently signed a new contract with Sligo following his blistering start to the season, says that talk like this is music to his ears.

“I'm delighted that they are still thinking of us like that to be honest. They can think that all they want. Hopefully when they come over here we can give them another shock.”

Now based in Sligo with his girlfriend and young daughter, Keena is enjoying life.

“I love it down here. They love it [football] down here. When the team is doing well the whole town is buzzing,” he added.