Brugge woes not an issue for Murphy

The Blauw-Zwart parted company with head coach Adrie Koster at the weekend following their fourth successive defeat, each of which coming from winning positions – a sequence kickstarted by City’s 2-1 triumph in the Jan Breydelstadion a fortnight ago.

Saturday’s 5-4 home league reverse to Genk proved Koster’s swansong after Brugge were leading 4-2 with 20 minutes remaining, with coaches Rudi Verkempinck and Philippe Clement taking charge tomorrow. Blues put in an impressive performance in Belgium as Chris Wood’s winner in the tenth minute of stoppage time clinched victory and took them joint top of Group H, and Murphy is expecting another tough test this time around.

“I think it will be very similar to what we faced over in Brugge,” the former Hibs left-back said.

“Sometimes when you lose a manager, as a squad of players, it can bring you closer together which can make the task a little bit more difficult, so we’re certainly expecting a very difficult game.”