BALA boss Colin Caton thinks Sligo Rovers will be a bit more wary of his team going into the second leg of the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League after the Lakesiders gave as good as they got in the first clash.

Town lost 2-1 against their full time League of Ireland Premier Division opponents who are in peak match fitness being midway through their domestic season.

Trailing by just the one goal, the tie remains alive as Bala head to The Showgrounds in West Ireland on Thursday this week.

Caton said: “We had to stay in the tie. We were a bit wary not knowing a lot about them going into the game.

“I’d been there the week before to watch them against Shelbourne, but now we’ve had a really good look and obviously that’s going to dictate how we go about things in Ireland.”

On the quality of the opposition faced in the first leg he added: “They’re very good, they’re full time and they’re in the middle of their domestic season whereas it was our first competitive game since 23 April.

“It was a good game on the night and I though they held on towards the end.

“We’re not fazed, we’ve got a lot of experience in the squad, a lot of football league experience, so we will go there and give a very good account of ourselves.

“There’s a long way to go. Did we deserve to win the first game? I’m not so sure. But did we deserve to lose it? I don’t think so.

“But it will be a different kettle of fish over there. There will be a big crowd. Their fans were a credit to them when they came to our place. They were outstanding, but we are going to equip ourselves as best as we can.”

Caton was confident his players will be ready to play in front of a big crowd and a lively atmosphere: “If you look at the calibre of our squad, Dave Edwards has played for Wales at the Euros, Antony Kay has played in playoff finals at Wembley, Callum Woods has Kay played in playoff finals at Wembley.

“There’s so much experience throughout the squad. They’ve all played for bigger clubs than what Sligo have.

“Even the lads who haven’t played football league, they’ve still really experienced. We will be really equipped for the game mentally.”

On different fitness levels he added: “I thought the first half was quite even, I thought we did really well.

“Once they scored their second it knocked us a bit and we lost or way for 20 minutes but I thought we finished the last 20 minutes really strong.

“They’re going to be fitter and sharper but on the night in the last 20 minutes I though we really came into the game.

“It’s going to be an interesting game and I think they’re going to be a lot more wary of us now than what they were coming into the tie.”

Bala started strongly against Sligo last Thursday with an early goal by Lassana Mendes at Park Hall, before the visitors replied through Aidan and Max Mata.