LET'S FINNISH THEM OFF

By Dave Jones on Aug 2, 07 01:24 PM

FC HAKA VALKEAKOSKI (1) v RHYL (3)
UEFA CUP FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND SECOND LEG
AT 5pm today, when many of us will be finishing work, Rhyl will be kicking off the second leg of their UEFA Cup tie in Finland against FC Haka.
The Lilywhites have given themselves a great chance of progressing to the second qualifying round for the second time in three seasons following their heroic 3-1 defeat of the Finns at Belle Vue on July 19.

Defender James Brewerton is a doubt for the Lilies after picking up a knock in training, but Carl Ruffer is expected to recover from a stomach bug.
Gareth Wilson is available for selection after not featuring in the first-leg because of suspension.
Rhyl manager John Hulse believes his side can complete the job in Valkeakoski and flatten the argument that Welsh clubs cannot win in Europe because they do not play summer football.
"We have got people banging on about summer football again in the League of Wales. But I cannot honestly see a way that they can bring summer football in," Hulse told www.welsh-premier.com
"It would require every side to be full-time, which is just an impossibility.
"We are at the situation we are in and we just have to deal with it. It comes up every year, someone talking about summer football. But you just have to get it out of your mind and prepare for it as best as you can. The big bonus is that you qualify for Europe in the first place.
You don’t need summer football to prepare for European games.
"We are proving that. Something has to change but I just can’t see any way round it at the moment. If you are full-time you can do it. But you can’t bring it in to part-time football. If there is a way, I am willing to listen to ideas, but I just can’t see it happening."
Hulse believes if his team avoid a bad start, they can prevail and win the tie.
Their pride hurt by losing to part-timers in the first-leg, Haka are expected to come out all guns blazing.
Likely to feature in their line-up is record goalscorer Valeri Popovitch, who missed the first game due to his fear of flying.
"The first 15 minutes will be very important," added Hulse. "If we can avoid conceding I believe we can go on and win. It's going to be hard, they are a full-time outfit and they won't want to go out to a so-called semi-pro side, but if we score - and I believe we can - they will need to score four to win the tie.
"We proved at Belle Vue we can hurt them at set pieces, and we can do so again."