Saints defender Alex Gogic has urged the Paisley side to keep their focus as they look to beat Valur at a sold out SMISA stadium this evening.
And the veteran defender believes they cannot get caught up in what is expected to be an intense atmosphere in Paisley.
“In the first ten minutes of the away game I thought we were all a bit too excited,” said the Cypriot internationalist. “Then we had to realise that we had to calm down and just play our football. We can’t be over-excited, we have to be focused to do our job.”
It is 37 years since St Mirren last hosted a European tie – a European Cup Winner’s Cup tie at love Street in 1987 against eventual winners Mechelen.
Stephen Robinson’s side go into the game on the back of a goalless draw in Reykjavik from the first leg as they look to prevail against the Icelandic side.
Should they come through this second-leg Europa League Conference second qualifying tie they will face either Norwegian runners-up Brann or Go-Ahead Eagles, who finished ninth in the Eredivisie.
“You can see from people’s faces what it means to them and what it means to us too. As a player, it is a great achievement to play in European football. Now it is up to us and do the job and get as far as we can.
“They are a good team, they have good players and we can’t underestimate them. This is a huge game and we need to have full focus and do our job.
And while Gogic is confident that St Mirren have the quality to progress he has insisted that there will be no underestimating the threat that Valur pose.
“You can see from people’s faces what it means to them and what it means to us too,” he said. “As a player, it is a great achievement to play in European football. Now it is up to us and do the job and get as far as we can.
“They are a good team, they have good players and we can’t underestimate them. This is a huge game and we need to have full focus and do our job.
“We did a good job to get a clean sheet but hopefully we do that and get a goal tonight.
“They deserve it as much as we do it because they were a big part in getting us here.
“We have to try and do the best we can. There is no point in doing all that last season and then getting here and regretting playing badly. We can do the best we can and do what the gaffer tells us to do and hopefully it gets us the result.
“The mentality in this group is very good. The gaffer and the staff have us ready and we have to go and do our job.
“The energy in the stadium will be high.
“Fans create a big atmosphere and they can be our 12th man. But our job is to focus and take it step by step.”
