Stephen Kenny: We can still qualify

Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny still feels that Dundalk's European run can go beyond December's final Europa League Group stage game.

Dundalk know that a win away to Maccabi Tel Aviv in a fortnight will see them reach the Europa League last 32 stage, if AZ fail to beat Zenit at home.

Assessing their chances going into the final group game, Kenny said "We are in the situation now where we have to win and then hope it is good enough.  It is a tough task for us to go to Israel and win, but we have shown that we can beat Maccabi previously, so we can take confidence from that."

A slow early start from the League of Ireland Premier Division champions was to prove costly on the night against AZ, but the Lilywhites did grow into the contest as it went on and like on many occasions this year, proved their ability to compete at this continental level.

"I think that the players showed good character in the game to come back into it and finish strongly and keep it alive for as long as we did.

"We could have got a draw, which would have flattered us probably, but it was not beyond us. We just have to accept defeat and try and go now to Israel and give ourselves every chance out there," said Kenny, who was speaking at the post match press conference.

When quizzed on the mood in the dressing room after the AZ defeat, Kenny added "The players are obviously disappointed at the moment.   I think to get into the Europa League was terrific, but when you get into a position to then qualify from the group,  you don't know when you will get that opportunity again. So, you want to grasp it.

"From that point of view, we knew a victory would have put us in a very strong position.  But in the end we didn't do enough to win the game and in the first 20 minutes especially, it did look like we had not played a game in a few weeks."

So, it all boils down to the final day in Israel and it should be an exciting night's football watching it all unfold.

Given what Dundalk have done already this year, there is no reason why they cannot go over and pick up a win against Maccabi Tel Aviv. To reach the last 32 stage of the Europa League would easily be one of the greatest achievements in the history of Irish football.