Shamrock Rovers v APOEL Nicosia: Hoops get their UEFA ...

Shamrock Rovers

APOEL Nicosia

That was very nearly a costly mistake by Pohls. The Rovers keeper comes running out of his box and chests the ball as far as Marquinhos. 

The Brazilian looked well offside but no flag is raised and he flicks the ball over his head and wide. 

Honohan concedes a free-kick on the side of the box and Tejera sends it towards the front post, where Kenny is well-placed to head away. 

The same player then puts the ball behind for a second consecutive corner, which is booted clear.

Johnny Kenny runs down the channel and is picked out by great pass from defence. The Rovers striker cuts inside Petrovic but is clearly being impeded. 

The referee appears to play advantage and Kenny manages to shoot. Unfortunately, it lacks accuracy. 

Rovers are defending with 11 men behind the ball at the moment, with Kenny and Mandroiu ahead of O'Neill, Nugent and Poom in a 5-3-2. 

A cross is dealt with but when the ball is sent back in to El-Arabi, he lays off the Marquinhos, who touches it inside and flashes a strike just past the post. 

He certainly looks the danger man early on.  

Rovers attempt to play out from the back but give the ball away again, allowing APOEL to start another build-up. However, an offside decision brings it to an end. 

For the first time, Poom then wins back possession and sets Mandroiu free on the left flank. He looks to clip a pass into Kenny but it doesn't reach its destination and Nugent then commits a foul. 

APOEL are playing with plenty of composure and look very comfortable in possession. 

They move the ball well in Rovers' half and Konstantinos Laifis' strike from long range is then way off the mark. 

Lee Grace's pass to Gary O'Neill is robbed and the visitors attack again. It's sloppy play from Rovers but luckily, they're awarded a free-kick on the edge of their own box for a high boot. 

APOEL threaten the Rovers goal in the opening minute as a cross makes its way to the back post. 

Brazilian winger Marquinhos shows some trickery before getting his shot off. It takes a slight deflection and Hoops keeper Leon Pohls is forced to bat it away. 

The game is underway

There's a decent crowd on a mild night at Tallaght Stadium, and the travelling Cypriot fans are making themselves heard. 

French referee Jeremie Pignard blows his whistle and we're up and running. 

Dan McDonnell has been taking a look the opposition, while he also has info on why Rovers are missing one of their big players tonight:

There's always a heavy international flavour to any APOEL Nicosia dressing room. They've got a Slovenian goalkeeper, a Bosnian, a Serb and a Spaniard in their back four, a Bulgarian, a Ghanaian and another Spaniard in midfield and an attacking line with a  Congolese international, a Brazilian and a Moroccan. There's one Cypriot in their XI, the defender Konstantinos Laifis

They have eight full internationals in their starting XI, with over 200 appearances between them.

Tallaght's top international Robbie Keane is in the house tonight, a man who wasn't far off 200 international appearances himself. 

Meanwhile, Graham Burke's absence from the teamsheet has been explained – his partner has gone into labour.

Kick-off is just a few minutes away now, and Rovers captain Roberto Lopes has been speaking to Premier Sports.

APOEL are currently fourth in their domestic table, three points off the top with five matches played. 

They come into the game on the back of a scoreless draw away to Omonia 29is Maiou on Sunday. 

37-year-old Moroccan striker Youssef El-Arabi, who arrived from Olympiacos over the summer, is their top scorer this season with three goals from his first four league appearances.

Team news

Here's Dan McDonnell with news on Rovers' starting line-up:

A few surprises in the Shamrock Rovers teamsheet tonight, although we did expect a few decisions with Sunday's game with Shelbourne in mind despite Stephen Bradley stating that he wasn't too concerned about the turnaround.

Jack Byrne was down to do the press conference yesterday, but there was a last-minute change and Pico Lopes showed up instead, which possibly dropped a hint that Byrne wouldn't start against his former club.

He's on the bench but hasn't always started in Europe with the ability of Darragh Nugent to press from the front preferred earlier in the campaign. Dylan Watts' exclusion is a bigger shock – he's automatic first choice so that has to be Shels related. The question mark hangs over whether Nugent or Markus Poom will join Gary O'Neill in the centre of the park.

Both could also be options for wing back. Neil Farrugia has played in a central attacking role in Europe but the alternative is that he reverts to right wing back with Nugent and Mandroiu behind Johnny Kenny and Poom supporting O'Neill.

Shamrock Rovers: Pohls; Cleary, Lopes (captain), Grace; Honohan, Poom, O'Neill, Farrugia, Mandroiu, Nugent; Kenny.

APOEL: Belec (captain); Susic, Petrovic, Laifis, Quintilla; Kostadinov, Abagna, Ndongala, Tejera, Marquinhos; El-Arabi. 

“They have a very peculiar way of playing, very interesting to be fair, but we are prepared for that. I rate Shamrock Rovers more as a whole, they never give up. They are dynamic. 

"They attack a lot and are good at the back, so it was very interesting to prepare for this game and to analyse Shamrock Rovers. We are fully prepared for the game."

Portuguese manager Jose Dominguez, who had spells at Tottenham, Birmingham City and Kaiserslautern as a player, was promoted from APOEL assistant manager to the top job in August. 

Seán O'Connor attended his pre-match press conference yesterday. 

“I don’t think this week, Thursday, Sunday [fatigue] will be an issue. After Sunday, we don’t play for over a week. It’s just attack tomorrow and then attack Sunday.

Good evening. Having qualified for the league phase of the Conference League, Shamrock Rovers begin with the visit of Cypriot side APOEL to Tallaght Stadium tonight. 

It's another big week for the Hoops as they also entertain stuttering Premier Division leaders Shelbourne on Sunday, with a fifth league title in a row not completely off the cards due to the form of the other title challengers. 

Kick-off is 8pm and it's live on Premier Sports 2. We will be following the game right here, with updates and a report at full-time from Daniel McDonnell, who is at the ground.