McLean is the main danger, says Weiss
KAIRAT manager Vladimir Weiss has i dentified Kenny McLean as Aberdeen’s main threat tonight but admitted he is anxious about the firepower within Derek McInnes’ side.
Weiss and his team endured a ni g ht mare j o ur ney from Kazakhstan but he is adamant those problems will not affect his side’s performance.
The 4,000- mile trek f rom Almaty was tough enough but it turned into the trip from hell. They had stops in Moscow and Ostend in Belgium on the way to Scotland which led to long delays.
The group eventually got to their Granite City hotel at 5am, four hours behind schedule.
Despite that, their jet-lagged coach insists his players will be ready to go.
‘It’s a long way from Almaty so you expect a long journey,’ Weiss said. ‘The players were a bit tired but they relaxed during the day and I don’t think there will be a problem.
‘The match kicks off at nearly one o’clock in the morning Kazakhstan time but it won’t affect the players.’
What does concern Weiss is Aberdeen’s goalscoring record. Kairat are protecting a slender advantage from the first leg and are aware of how tough it will be to make the next round.
National rivals Astana last night progressed to the play-off round of the Champions League and Weiss admits the pressure is on his side to do likewise in the Europa League.
He said: ‘Aberdeen are a good team with a strong coach. They came back from Kazakhstan and had a good result in the game against Dundee United.
‘They always seem to score in every game they play so we have to be prepared for them.
‘ They have s ome g ood individual players but we have to look out for Kenny McLean. He is in good form with goals in his last three games.
‘ There are others as well, though — including a very good goalkeeper. They are stronger as a team.
‘The fans will see an amazing match. We are not going to just sit and defend. We will go out to play attacking football because I believe we will need to score to go through.
‘The plan is to win the match as it is a dream for us to qualify.’