Latvian international Juris Laizāns' vast experience has already proven a major boon for an inexperienced Skonto FC side – as Portadown FC discovered to their cost last Thursday.

The Northern Irish club were heading for a 1-0 home win when Skonto earned a free-kick deep into added time in the opening leg of their UEFA Europa League first qualifying round tie. Laizāns did not need another invitation, firing in to leave the teams all-square ahead of Thursday's return. "I remember all my goals as I don't often score," the midfielder, holder of 102 Latvia caps, told UEFA.com. "We had the upper hand even if we couldn't score and our efforts were rewarded in the end."

An uninformed observer arriving after the game at Shamrock Park may have mistaken Skonto for a school team, such is their youth – until, that is, they came across Laizāns. At 31 and with eight years of hard graft in Russia under his belt, including winning the 2005 UEFA Cup with PFC CSKA Moskva, he stands out. "We have so many young players," he said. "It's very interesting; they give me added motivation."

It is a very different Skonto from the one Laizāns left in 2000, when he played alongside Maris Verpakovskis and Marians Pahars. "I have changed too," he said. "I'm wiser, more experienced. I still enjoy training and, of course, the matches. I've had many different coaches during my career, all with different budgets, squads and goals. Yet throughout every player has had to fight and play with commitment. For me it is a law."

It is something ingrained from an early age by Aleksandrs Starkovs. Starkovs was in charge when Laizāns came through the Skonto ranks and, having guided Latvia for six years – a job he still performs – the coach returned to the Riga outfit in January, two months before Laizāns. A coincidence? "There was interest from other clubs but this option was too tempting," said Laizāns. "Starkovs made me a footballer. Without doubt, young players make swifter progress under him compared to other coaches." Skonto are banking on it.