Perugia pressure for Bothroyd

By Julia Court

As AC Perugia look to overcome Scotland's Dundee FC for a place in the second round of the UEFA Cup on Wednesday, Jay Bothroyd has warned his Serie A team-mates they cannot afford to be complacent.

Tough proposition
Bothroyd missed Perugia's trip to Scotland for the first leg through suspension, and while the Italian side came away from Dens Park with a 2-1 victory, the London-born striker concedes the Scottish Premier League side proved tougher opposition than expected.

Stubborn Perugia
"With our away win we're certainly in a great position to go through to the next round," Bothroyd told uefa.com. "But I think the lads were quite surprised how hard it was to break down Dundee in Scotland and when they're playing away they will probably be even more stubborn.

Decisive factors
"I've not had much experience of playing against Scottish teams but my previous manager was Gary McAllister and like most Scots players and managers there's a strong work ethic there," the 21-year-old continued. "But having said that, by all accounts we showed a lot more physical strength in our game over there than Dundee were perhaps expecting. And that, combined with our attacking pace, should give us the edge once again on Wednesday."

Pressure on
Bothroyd - who joined Perugia on a free transfer from Coventry City FC in the summer - admits he is still pinching himself that he is on the eve of what would be his first UEFA Cup appearance. Perugia coach Serse Cosmi has started with Bothroyd in every Serie A game so far this season but they have yet to win a league match and the former Arsenal FC youth player has not scored since the opening day of the season.

Disappointing start
"We'd have obviously liked to get off to a better start and although I've had chances I haven't been clinical enough at times," said Bothroyd. "Everyone's working really hard but we just haven't had the breaks. Hopefully we can give the fans a good night of European football on Wednesday and that could also kick-start our domestic season. It's a shame because we were really flying as a team in the [UEFA] Intertoto Cup in pre-season."

Summer signings
Perugia did indeed sparkle in pre-season, sailing through the Intertoto Cup without conceding a goal. The summer recruitment policy of Perugia's eccentric chairman, Luciano Gaucci, looked to be paying off as the club won themselves a place in the UEFA Cup for the first time in 24 years. But is the squad big enough to sustain a challenge both in Europe and Serie A?

Perugia quality
"I definitely think the quality is there to do well both in Europe and in the league, but there are a lot of top-class sides out there," said Bothroyd. "If you look at the way we performed against AC Milan in the league a couple of weeks ago, to earn a 1-1 draw against the European champions is not a bad result for a comparatively small club like ourselves.

Job at hand
"Playing clubs like Milan and Parma week-in week-out means you're playing against some of the best teams in the world. So we're not scared of anyone we may come up against if we get through to the next round of the UEFA Cup. But first we've got to get through and that's our only focus at the moment."