Football: Blues aiming to battle to make history
Linfield can become the first Irish League side to make the group stages of European football
Linfield can make history later this evening by becoming the first Irish League side to make the group stages of European competition.
David Healy's men face Latvian outfit RFS in the second leg of their Europa Conference League side at Windsor Park, having drawn 2-2 in the opening match last week.
It could have been even better for the Premiership champions, who led 2-0 until the 89th minutes in Latvia, courtesy of strikes from Stephen Fallon and Joel Cooper. However, the hosts pulled one back via a Kevin Freisenbichier header before a 95th minute equaliser from Ziga Lipuscek set up an intriguing second leg.
Speaking to Downtown/Cool FM ahead of tonight's huge clash, Blues boss Healy said it was the biggest game in the club's history and in his managerial career to date.
"The players are aware of how big the situation is. It's a hue game, financially, and to be the first team from here to qualify. As hurtful as it was to be pulled back last week, we now know if we can win a game at Windsor Park, where we've won in Europe before, we qualify." he said.
"After 30 minutes last week, we were on the back foot, so if someone had said would you take a draw and go back to Windsor for a winner-takes-all game, then absolutely you would have. But the longer the game goes on, then the more frustrating the end result was."
"As frustrated as we were last week, we now have an opportunity to come back to Windsor Park and win a game of football to qualify for the group stages."
The tie kicks off at Windsor Park at 7.45pm.