Dunk: Let's relish Marseille atmosphere

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Skipper will be a proud man when he leads Albion out in front of a crowd of 67,000 supporters at Stade Velodrome.

Bruce Talbot

2023-10-05T06:00:00Z

Lewis Dunk want his teammates to embrace the atmosphere at Stade Velodrome on Thursday.

Lewis Dunk says Albion should relish the atmosphere a full house in Marseille’s Stade Velodrome will create when Albion resume their Europa League campaign tonight.

Marseille officials expect all 67,000 tickets to be sold for what will be Gennaro Gattuso’s first home game after he was appointed coach last week.

Dunk said, “We’re expecting the environment to be hostile. Obviously we have players who have played in Europe, but we also have players who haven’t had much experience of European football - but there are hostile stadiums in England too.”

Lewis Dunk could make his Europa League debut on Thursday night.

In the last few weeks the Stade Velodrome has hosted Rugby World Cup fixtures and a blessing by the Pope, but Dunk doesn’t think Albion will need to rely on divine intervention against the former European champions.

“We’re coming here to play to win, and we won’t worry too much about what happens outside the pitch – what matters is the XI on it,” he added. “We have to focus on what we do in possession and how we defend.

“They have got a few players who we know from England and others we don’t know so much about, but we come here expecting a tough, tough game. If we play like we did in the last game against Aston Villa it will be the same scoreline. But we are confident in ourselves that we can come here against a top side and win.”

On a personal level it will be a memorable moment for the skipper, who will lead Albion for the first time in Europe having missed the Group B opener against AEK Athens through injury.

“Personally, it’s been a long old journey so when I lead the team out tonight I’ll be very proud.

“Did I think I’d be here as captain of the club in Marseille? No, but the club and I have worked hard to be here so I’m going to embrace every single minute of it.”