Stephen Geoghegan will hope to leave Skopje with happier memories of the Macedonian capital when he boards a plane home on Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday evening's European Champions League qualifier with Sloga Jugomagnat presents the Shelbourne striker with the opportunity to exorcise the ghost of his last trip here in 1997.

Skopje three year's ago should have been the highlight of Geoghegan's career. But his call up to Mick McCarthy's squad, the first and only National League player to have received such an honour, turned sour for Geoghegan who, despite McCarthy's injury problems, wasn't even selected on the bench as Ireland suffered their humiliating 32 defeat in a World Cup qualifier.

"What should have been one of the big moments of my career ironically turned into a major disappointment," reflected Geoghegan yesterday. The sense of deja vu for the 30-year-old Dubliner was all the more palpable when Shelbourne arrived at the Hotel Continental after their arduous 15-hour journey, via London and Bucharest, late on Saturday night to discover it was the same base Ireland used in 1997.

Geoghegan, however, is confident this visit will not be such a disappointment. "All the players are very relaxed about the game and we certainly don't feel under any pressure despite the recent poor results of Irish teams in Europe," he said. Meanwhile, captain Pat Scully is in a race against time to prove his fitness. The anchor of manager Dermot Keely's defence, he aggravated a hamstring strain in Shelbourne's opening Super Cup game against UCD last Friday week and is, at this stage, almost certainly out of the reckoning.

With left back Declan Geoghegan already out with a groin injury, Keely's gameplan, is thus made all the more demanding.

Robert Raeside, the 28-year-old just signed from Arbroath, stands by for Scully while Mark Hutchinson will slot in on the left in a flat back four. Keely is likely to play five across midfield with a lone striker to combat the technically superior Sloga.