Michael Duffy wants to emulate close pal Patrick McEleney by producing his own moment of European magic tonight.
And the winger insists he is fit for the task having put a bout of Covid behind him to play in last week’s thrilling 2-2 draw in Holland.
The Lilywhites return to their European home-from-home when they host Dutch giants Vitesse Arnhem at Tallaght Stadium tonight.
A week ago, they came from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 courtesy of McEleney’s brace, only to concede a cruel equaliser in the dying stages.
But it was McEleney’s second goal that left everyone purring, a sensational chipped effort - to compliment his earlier header - that immediately became a viral sensation.
Derrymen Duffy and McEleney are big pals off the pitch but Duffy revealed that McEleney has taken all of the attention in his stride.
“As soon as I see ‘Fats’ chop the ball, in my head I know he's going to chip as I've seen him do it that many times,” said Duffy of the wonder goal in Arnhem.
“It’s just that he did it on such a big stage, when it's 1-1 against such a big team. Honestly, I don't think any other player does that, at that time. It was just unbelievable.
“The last month he's been our best player and you need players like that.
“You know whenever Fats has the ball that he's going to play a mad pass that nobody else could do. Whenever he's playing like that, it gives the team confidence.
“But he's chilled about the goal and doesn't say much.
“He has bragged a little about the header because he doesn't score headers much! But look, he's in brilliant form.”
Duffy is back in the groove himself having missed both legs of the previous round against Levadia Tallinn after contracting Covid-19.
He returned to play his part against Vitesse last week and said: “I was physically okay but lost my taste and smell. It was a weird feeling and wasn’t nice.
“But like Pat Hoban and the other two boys who got it, when they came back to training they struggled a wee bit so I was lucky on that side of it.
“I was a bit worried that I'd have to miss the Vitesse game as well. But lucky enough I came back and was straight back in.”
Dundalk boss Vinny Perth last night called on the match-winners in his squad to step forward this evening and write another chapter in the club’s European history.
And he knows Duffy has all the talent to become that man.
Perth said: “There’s no doubt we go up levels when we meet these teams. Teams could have crumbled under pressure after the first hour last week. But we didn’t.
“We’ve such an experienced squad and I keep saying to the players in this European campaign that it’s about somebody having that big moment.
“It was David McMillan in Estonia, it was Will Patching who made that moment. It was Patrick last week. It’s someone else’s turn. We need big moments to have a big run.”
Vitesse will be without Moroccan international Oussama Tannane as he hasn’t travelled amid speculation linking him with a move away from the club.
Israeli international Eli Dasa is injured while Lois Openda and Romaric Yapi are both suspended. Jacob Rasmussen has travelled to Dublin but is not expected to feature.
Meanwhile, Dundalk are running the rule over versatile attacker Sami Ben Amar.
The Frenchman, 23, was most recently with Ligue 2 side Nimes and is a former Moroccan Under-20 international.
Lilywhites boss Perth admits he could offer a deal, but not until he has more time to assess the player.
Perth said: “He’s in with us at the moment and has been around for 10 days or a little bit longer.
“He had to quarantine for a couple of days with Covid and we’ll make a decision over the weekend.
“It’s been difficult to see him training because we’ve been in and out of the country with European matches. I’ve nothing more than videos in training to go on.”
Refusing to rule out a deal, Perth added: “We may take a chance. It’s a little bit of support as we’ve been a little bit short in that area.
“We’ll make a decision. I tried to sign five different targets, but they fell through with fellas getting other offers.”
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
