Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has warned Kairat will be every bit as dangerous to the Dons’ hopes of progressing in Europe as HNK Rijeka were.
The Dons squad arrived in Kazakhstan early this morning after an overnight flight to prepare for tomorrow’s Europa League third qualifying round first leg at Central Stadium in Almaty against the Kazakh Premier Division league leaders.
Croats Rijeka are ranked 113th by Uefa in the club rankings, while Kairat are 352nd but McInnes insists his side, ranked 275th, can ill-afford to take Vladimir Weiss’ side lightly.
He said: “It’s difficult to say how they compare to Rijeka but they will be as tough a challenge as Rijeka were. They are ahead of them in terms of their match sharpness as they are well in the groove whereas Rijeka were just starting off much as we were.
“We’re improving as we go along but they are a good side with good experience in the team and they have got the ability to keep clean sheets. They are robust with their defending but it is difficult to say whether they are any better.
“They are a good side and you can see they have the benefit of being well into their league campaign.
“They are playing with a lot of confidence at the top of the league and won comfortably with their second team on Sunday. They don’t lose many goals, especially at home, and they have good individual talent at the top end of the pitch.
“It is difficult to say where they are in relation to other teams we’ve faced but they are going to be difficult to overcome, though I still feel we can do exactly that.”
McInnes believes an away goal in Almaty tomorrow can swing the tie in his side’s favour.
He said: “They’ve still to come to Pittodrie as well, so the challenges we are going to have going over there will be the same for them in terms of adjusting next week.
“It’s important we come back on the flight having had a positive result and bring them back to Pittodrie with a chance of getting through the tie.
“They are like Rijeka in that they want to impose themselves on the game and will ask questions of the opposition. They will be conscious of getting a positive result at home and I expect them to come out and try to get the job done.
“We normally score domestically week in, week out and we were the second highest scorers from set-pieces in the league last season. We’ve got good pace and the ability to score goals and it is important we try to make the most of any opportunities we have over there.
“If we don’t score there it will make next week’s game that bit more difficult.”