Fulham defender Brede Hangeland has predicted a testing UEFA Europa League qualifying fixture lies in wait as the Whites face FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the qualification Play-Off.
The Ukrainian side, managed by former Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos, come highly rated and have European experience, reaching the Group Stages of the UEFA Cup in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
“We expect it to be the toughest tie yet,” Hangeland told fulhamfc.com. “But that’s what you have to expect the closer you get to the Group Stage – from which we are now just two games away from.
“Of course, we want to do well in the UEFA Europa League and we want to make sure that coming back so early hasn’t been for nothing because this is a competition that we all have good memories from.”
Fulham’s season is now already in its second month, extending their run following Thursday night’s 2-0 second leg defeat of RNK Split (2-0 on aggregate) which was the team’s sixth of the competition so far.
“There’s already been a fair bit of football, but we’ve needed to get through these early rounds in order to give it another good go,” added Hangeland. “As I said, the opposition gets stronger the further you go.
“RNK Split were a good side and we should give them credit – they played some decent football. They caused us a few problems in the first leg and at times did the same in the second.
“Fortunately, we played very well in the first 45 minutes, probably playing as well as we have done so far this season. AJ took his goal really well and that settled us down before Danny added a second. From then on I think we were quite comfortable and certainly deserved to go through.”
Fulham will host Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, who include former reserve goalkeeper Jan Lastuvka in their squad, on Thursday 18th August, before travelling to the Ukraine for the second time in three years on Thursday 25th August for the second leg.
“One of the good things about football, particularly when you play in Europe, is that it gives you the opportunity to see and experience different countries,” he said. “Of course, that comes from playing in this competition and we’ll try to keep that up.
“It’s been very enjoyable so far and to go out now, when we are this close to the Group Stage would be devastating. So, as we always do, we’ll take each game as it comes and give it our best.”