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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Alex Gogic blocks out Valur noise as he plots St Mirren Conference League run

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Alex Gogic refused to pay any attention to the noise surrounding Euro rivals Valur ahead of their Conference League showdown against St Mirren.

The visitors have been rocked by injury issues and suffered a heavy defeat to Reykjavik rivals Fram at the weekend ahead of their trip to Paisley.

Star man Gylfi Sigurdsson is also set to miss the match having stayed in Iceland due to an injury issue.

But Gogic has insisted St Mirren must solely focus on themselves to ensure a positive result in their first home tie in Europe in 37 years - one week on from a goalless draw in Iceland.

"I don't know if that is true or not," he said of Sigurdsson missing the second leg. "But we are just focussed on doing our job.

"It doesn't matter if he plays or not, just do what the gaffer wants us to do and hopefully we will get the result."

"Listen, that's nothing to do with us," he added of complaints from Valur boss Arnar Gretarsson over having to play at the weekend while St Mirren rested up. "They can go and talk to the Icelandic Football Association.

"You can take it as an advantage but maybe it is even more motivation for them to prove a point.

"It can work both ways, it depends how you want to see it and how everyone sees it."

Cypriot international Gogic - who signed a three year deal in the summer as a key fixture of Stephen Robinson's team - is well aware of the magnitude of the fixture at the SMiSA Stadium.


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Pre-match home supporters will march from the town centre to the stadium where a record crowd will take in the crucial second leg. 

While keen to enjoy the moment and savour the experience, Gogic has vowed he and his team-mates cannot afford to be caught up in the moment.

"You can't get carried away," he warned. "I think the first ten minutes over there it was a bit like a basketball game. Everyone was just excited to start playing football.

"In European football, you just have to say, 'Come on boys let's relax and do what we normally do'.

"We can't get carried away. It's a 90-minute game, it could be longer but hopefully not.

"We have just got to focus on what the gaffer wants us to do.

"I think the more experienced players it's up to us to try and on the pitch tell the boys to relax and keep going."

Gogic - who also played in Europe for Hibs - heads into the match full of confidence and gunning for a prolonged spell in the competition, something Scottish clubs have rarely achieved in recent history.

"In my opinion, I think every team has to believe they can win," he said when asked if clubs must believe they can reach the group stage.

"You've obviously got some teams in Europe that have bigger teams, bigger budgets. But if you don't believe you can win, then there's no point in even turning up.

"We're really excited. For anyone's career, it's one of the dreams to play in European football.

"This is the start of it and hopefully we can make the most of it and go as far as we can."

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