THOUGH Bangor City may be playing for pride alone in tonight’s return leg against Maritimo at the Racecourse, Blues boss Nev Powell wants the club’s loyal Citizens to turn out in force.
City suffered a heavy 8-2 loss in the Europa League third qualifying round first leg at Funchal last Thursday, but there were still some positives from the performance against one of Portugal’s top sides.
Powell said: “The result was obviously disappointing as the performance was disappointing and we showed some excellent character.
“Maritimo are a side of Premier League class; some of the football they played was superb.
“We also have to remember that all of our players are part time, and this experience augers well for the coming season as it’s the best pre-season we’ve ever had and we’re more than ready for August 14 and the game against Neath.”
On tonight’s game, Powell added: “We’ll go to Wrexham with no pressure and the boys are looking forward to it after a week away in Madeira.
“Let’s be honest about it, when we were in Geneva for the draw and found out we were playing FC Honka in the second qualifying round, I think anyone would be please to have us in the situation we are now.
“The whole club is looking forward to the occasion and we hope that Bangor City supporters turn out in force.”
City chairman Dilwyn Jones agreed; he said: “Realistically, it was always going to be a big challenge to get anything from the match and if we were to do so, we needed every ounce of luck to go our way.
“Our boys are determined to put on a good performance for the home fans next Thursday.”
Tonight’s game kicks off at 7.30pm with adult tickets priced £10.