Keely upbeat ahead of Shelbourne's uphill battle

On the face of it, it's going to be an uphill battle for Shelbourne against Norwegian champions Rosenborg this evening at Tolka Park (live on Eurosport, kick-off 8.0 p.m.). However, having seen his side break the National League's embarrassing run of defeats in European competition last week, Dermot Keely was just as upbeat as his rival, Ola By Rise, as the two clubs completed their preparations in Dublin yesterday.

The Irish manager has several injuries and around half of his squad on yellow cards, but remains extremely positive regarding the approach Shelbourne will take against a side that has tested the very best teams in Europe over the past five seasons.

"We'll go out there looking to win the match because that's always what we do," said Keely, who could field the team initially named prior to the draw with Sloga Jugomagnat. That would mean the return up front of Stephen Geoghegan, who has made a quicker than expected recovery from an ankle injury picked up in the pre-match warm-up, and Garry Haylock's redeployment to central midfield.

Given that Paul Doolin and Dave Campbell have joined Declan Geoghegan on the injured list, Keely says that such a starting line-up is "a strong possibility". He also points to the availability of Davy Byrne, recently returned from Dundee United, as just one of the options open to him.

Others include young striker Richie Foran, back from his loan spell at Home Farm, and not-so-young Ian Gilzean, who was signed from Glentoran last week. Between them they scored three goals in the weekend's friendly game with Glentoran, although neither is likely to start this evening.

"Gilzean is a good signing for us because it means we don't have to always play the same way, it gives us options and creates more competition for places. Richie is one for the future, but he's already a fine player and I think he's going to be forcing his way into the side sooner rather than later. But overall, the lads who have been in the team lately have done well, and around here that's something that's rewarded."

Central to Shelbourne's hopes of upsetting their visitors will be their ability to keep a clean sheet at home against the Norwegians, something that Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Dynamo Kiev could not do in the second phase of the Champions League last season. All three beat Rosenborg at home, but in each case they conceded a goal along the way, an indication of the sort of positive approach which Keely witnessed first hand last Sunday when he watched Rosenborg's 1-1 away draw with league rivals Brann.

"They're a very attacking side, very talented and very good at passing the ball," he said. "They have pace and their midfield is particularly impressive, and we'll look to take their strengths into account because the days when you can just go out there and try to do your own thing are long gone. But I'm confident that my lads can adapt to the situation."

Also confident, though, are Rosenborg boss Nils Arne Eggem and Ola By Rise, his assistant. Eggem, banned from the touchline for the two games as a result of a run-in with a UEFA official during a match last season against Bayern Munich, will let Rise (who played a club record 457 games for Rosenborg) do his bidding from the dugout this evening. While both were much more respectful than their team captain Erik Hoftun, who reportedly referred to Shelbourne as a team of "Irish pub players" after the draw was made, neither was doing much yesterday to disguise their confidence about progressing.

"It's up to us to dictate the pace of the game, to go out and get our passing game going at speed," said Rise after his players had trained yesterday. "If we can do that then we will give them a bit of trouble."

Singled out as potential weaknesses in the home side this evening are the central defensive partnership of Pat Scully and Tony McCarthy who, according to the Rosenborg assistant coach, are short of both pace and technical ability. He did, however, point to the strength of the pair, along with Garry Haylock, as an aerial threat from setpieces.

Given the assessment of the local side's defensive capabilities, the pace of Jan Derek Sorensen will a key weapon in the visitors' search for an away goal.

With nine wins and three draws in their last 12 league matches, the confidence is understandable but then so too, after more than a year unbeaten at Tolka, is the feeling in the Shelbourne camp that they can keep this tie very much alive ahead of next week's return leg in Trondheim.