Robbie Keane has warned his Ferencvaros players to expect ‘to suffer’ in his first game in charge at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League tonight.
Even so, Keane is in bullish mood at the prospect of facing opposition currently third in the Bundesliga and winners of the competition in 2022.
‘We didn’t come to Frankfurt to accept defeat,’ insisted Ireland’s most capped player and record goal-scorer last night.
Appointed on January 6, Keane used a training camp in Spain to get to know his players.
‘We’ve done everything we can over the last two weeks to prepare the players.
‘We’re playing against a team capable of extremely fast football and has a much bigger budget.
-‘It’s a footballer’s dream to play in such matches in front of 50,000 people. At such times, I wish I could play again.
‘As a coach, it’s also a huge motivation to lead my team in such a match. We have to play with a different mindset on the European stage than in the Hungarian championship.
‘There will be a period when we will suffer, but we will do everything we can to be successful.’
Frankfurt are in sixth place with 13 points from their six games while Ferencvaros are 16th on nine points.
