Ruaidhri Higgins wants Derry improvement after 'sloppy' first leg

Disappointed not to have recorded a first leg victory over HB Torshavn in the Faroe Islands last week, Derry City boss Ruaidhri Higgins has demanded a much improved display from his side in Thursday's second leg encounter (7.45pm).

The Brandywell side will be supported by a capacity attendance as they hope to progress to the next round against a team from Finland.

Higgins admitted having had harsh words with his charges after the dismal scoreless result.

"We were sloppy with our passing and poor when in possession," he said.

"The performance was way below our standards, however, we managed to make a number of changes which saw us finish the game on the front foot with scoring."

And he warned against the dangers of complacency.

"Torshavn are no mugs, they have a few quality players and it's worth noting that they have won their last three European ties at home, two of those fixtures against Maccabi Haifa and Welsh club, Newtown FC.

"The gloves are off and, hopefully, we will progress to the next round as we have failed to achieve that over the past nine years."

Torshavn head coach Jakub Martin Joensen says his team are optimistic given their performance last week.

He said: "We are very excited about the second leg and we believe this tie is very much alive which is very important.

"We wanted to win the first match and we created the chances to do that but we failed to score which was disappointing.

"Derry City are a good team and they will be even more difficult to overcome when playing at home, but the tie is still very much alive and we believe we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic."