Keith Long will give his wide players a license to thrill at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday night.
Bohemians will host Icelandic side Stjarnan there in their Europa Conference League second-leg clash, in front of 6,000 supporters, as part of the government’s pilot scheme to bring fans back to sporting arenas around the country.
He revealed on Tuesday how the dimensions of the pitch at the Dublin 4 venue might help his side.
The surface is two metres wider than at Dalymount Park - and Long said: “It gives us extra space in that area. We’ve got some good wide players and attacking fullbacks.
“Last week, the opposition tried to contain and counterattack us. They dropped us, were well disciplined, recovered into a low block shape quickly.
“It will ask questions of our movement in wide areas, our decision making and execution of the final pass.
“We’ve to be careful that we don’t get done on the counter either because they were good at times in transition.”
The pitch is also two metres shorter than what the Bohs players are accustomed to at their Phibsborough home.
But Long and his Euro hopefuls have been preparing for Thursday’s clash, with the tie poised at 1-1, on similar dimensions at Abbotstown this week, ahead of Wednesday’s training session at the Aviva.
“We’ve known for a long time that we’re playing at the Aviva and we’ve known the 6,000 tickets were sold out,” he continued.
“The only important thing for us on Thursday is the performance, everything else is noise in the background. We won’t let it interfere.
“We train [at the Aviva] on Wednesday. We trained at Abbotstown last night. That has the same pitch dimensions as the Aviva, the same type of surface.
“It definitely helps. There’s no doubt it’s different, because we’re not used to playing at the Aviva.
“To be exposed to that environment is good for the group as a whole in terms of their development and progression as footballers.”
