Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny is hoping that hours of extensive homework will pay off when the Lilywhites host AEK Larnaca in their Europa League second qualifying round first-leg tie at Oriel Park this evening.

The Cypriots ended Cork City’s European campaign last year but Kenny, along with first-team coach Vinny Perth and opposition analyst Ruaidhri Higgins, has been burning the midnight oil in a bid to overcome a side peppered with experience.

“The level of detail for European games is huge,” he said. “Myself, Vinny and Ruaidhri were all on the phone the other night to 12 o’clock watching different matches,” he said.

“Ruaidhri was also in Poland two weeks ago to watch them. He had to get two flights and a train to watch a training match with AEK Athens behind closed doors. Tactically, European games challenge you.”