Concerned about tonight

It goes without saying that tonight is a massive game in our season. All this talk in the press about the pitch, the temperature and complaints felt a bit like tempting fate for our elimination tonight, a nice excuse for our players to subconsciously switch off and perhaps accept that tonight might not be our night.

I was glad to hear Ronny say that unequivocally that there are no excuses for a weak performance tonight . Winning this tie means not only that we get a shot at qualifying for the CL jackpot but it also means we are guaranteed European football until Christmas.

We've played on some sheite pitches here in Scotland, Fir Park in winter, Tannadice after a downpour and the rugby pitch at Hampden in late January. Add to that some of the "plastic" pitches we have been served up and whilst it is not acceptable, its not as if we've been playing on a carpet this whole time.

After watching the game against County at the weekend my fears have not been allayed that we could leak a few goals tonight. I felt that our distribution was poor and I get the impression that in sweltering conditions that ball retention could have a decisive say in our ability to get the result we need. I think we'll get chances tonight, they have to come out and play a bit more so we need to be sharper on the counter attack, I'd like to see us play with a couple of pacey players in the team. Janko looked rapid when he came on and he can play as a winger, I'd certainly prefer to see him in the team ahead of the unreliable Forrest as we can't afford to carry anybody tonight.

I'm hoping for a positive result but I cannot say that I am confident of it. I think Boyata can be a good signing for us but he needs to learn to be more disciplined defensively. He's a powerful lad and a threat at set plays but he needs to work on his concentration levels and his overall football intelligence. He's been caught sleeping and not tracking back on a few occasions which will be punished by better teams.

I want to see us adapt to the conditions as it'd be tough to see us press for 90 minutes in high temperatures. We should pick and choose our moments to apply pressure and as I mentioned earlier the counter attack will, in my eyes be our main weapon. Ciftci or Griffiths will be vital, holding the ball up, bringing others into play and offering runs in behind, success tonight to me will mean our striker playing a pivotal role in all aspects of our play.