Shamrock Rovers might have the odds stacked against them going into the return leg of their Europa League clash with Juventus, but their spirits are high ahead of Thursday's game.

 

The Hoops lost the first leg of the Third Round qualifier 2-0 at Tallaght Stadium, although they registered a performance that suggested they can cause damage to the Italian giants.

 

With a large travelling support present in Modena for the game, the Premier Division outfit remain hopeful of coming out of the game with something positive to cling to with a victory being the dream result.

 

Rovers boss Michael O'Neill accepts that it is mission impossible in many ways, but his squad of players won't be giving up their place in the competition without a fight and he is trying to stay optimistic.

 

"It will be difficult, but the aim is to get a victory. [But] we're not under any illusion. The quality Juve have and the cost to assemble it and cost of individual players," said O'Neill.

 

"It's a different planet from the environment we operate in. We have to have belief. We never gave ourselves a chance to get that when losing an early goal in the first game.

 

"We have to be patient, we have to recognise the quality of the system. When we changed the system to 4-4-2 we had a period of the game where we had the upper hand.

 

"It'll be difficult to score, but we'll aim to do that. There's no expectation on us. Sometimes, that's a nice position to be in.

 

"It'll be a good experience to play away from home against opposition of this quality, and it can only add to players' game knowledge and education to play them at this level."

 

The Hoops are again missing the services of Pat Sullivan (knee) and Dessie Baker (Achilles), although they should have a full roster other than those two absentees.