So exactly who are Flora Tallinn?

Shamrock Rovers welcome Flora Tallinn to Tallaght this Tuesday, but who are Flora anyway? Niall Farrell investigates.

Flora Tallinn are Estonia's most successful club, having won the Estonian Meistriiliga (Premier Division) eight times and Estonian Cup five times. The club were founded just after the Berlin Wall fell in 1990, and initially competed in the Estonian Second Division. A meteoric rise began with the influx of players into Flora from Talinna Lovid - a now-defunct Tallinn club- and the club won their first ever Meistriiliga in 1993-94. The following season Flora won a league and cup double and developed into one of the two biggest teams in the country- the other being rivals Levadia Tallinn. Last season they did the double again- adding an Estonian Super Cup to make up an impressive trophy haul. This season, Flora top the Meistriiliga with an unbeaten record- winning 12 out of their 16 matches so far. They have conceded just eight goals in the league this season. To find out a bit more about Flora, we spoke to one of the leading English-language Estonian football bloggers- Matt Morrison, who runs the excellent meistriliiga.blogspot.com.

Niall Farrell: How much of a threat are Flora likely to be? Are they likely to go on the attack straight off?

Matt Morrison: It's difficult to say without knowing a great deal about the standard of Shamrock Rovers, but I think it's unlikely Flora will go for the jugular. They're currently top of the Meistriliiga by five points (after 16 games) but they are more solid than a spectacular attacking outfit. They're only the fifth highest scorers in the league but have the best defence having conceded just eight goals. So they will be difficult to break down and may have a fitness advantage as they are midway through their domestic season.

Who are the dangermen for Flora? Tell us a bit about them.

Flora have a team full of promising young Estonian players. Twenty year old Henri Anier is the main threat up front. He has scored nine league goals so far this year and has just made his international debut against Chile on a brief tour of South America. He's quick and clinical around the box. Midfielders Sergei Moskinov and Siim Luts contribute goals from midfield, while full back Gert Kams has established himself as an Estonian international - not a bad feat given that most of the national team play at a higher level abroad.

What's the standard like the Estonian league? Is it comparable to the Scandinavian leagues?

It's among the smallest and least attended leagues in Europe - attendances are generally between 100-200, and not all teams are professional. The standard is below the Scandinavian leagues and it is really used as a breeding ground for young Estonian players who look to attract bigger moves abroad, often to Norway, Finland or Sweden. And it is a difficult task to attract more interest within Estonia given the popularity of the Spanish, English and German leagues.