Coleraine win in Maribor is a warning shot says Keith Lasley

The Bannsiders take on the Scottish Premiership outfit in the second qualifying round at The Showgrounds tomorrow night.

The Steelmen may be favourites to progress but Lasley knows they will have to be at their best to make that happen.

“It’s a message for our players that we need to be ready,” he said when asked about the Maribor result.

“We watched their game against Maribor and the determination and tactical analysis they showed was terrific. You don’t just go somewhere like that and win on determination alone - you have to be organised and they certainly were.

“It’s certainly a warning shot that we have to be at our best to progress.

“We know a lot about them - obviously the manager is well connected and knows them very well, but likewise their manager obviously knows us too and he will have done his homework on us.

“It’s two teams that are well versed on each others’ qualities.

“We feel it’s how we approach the game and if we play as we can we think we have a good chance of going through.”

The Well knocked out Glentoran in the previous round and Lasley knows his side will be in for another tough test.

“It’s hard to tell who is better. It’s a different challenge,” he said.

“But what will be similar is the work rate and incessant nature of how they will start the game particularly on their home patch.

“We will have to start the game with desire and tempo. The result they got in Maribor shows that better than ever.

“We are going to have to deal with that as we did in the Glentoran game.

“It took us an hour or so to break the deadlock and it’s going to be an equally difficult task over there.”

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