Champions League second qualifying round, first leg: Shelbourne v Qarabag, Tolka Park, 7.45pm – Live on Premier Sports 1
Life inside a League of Ireland club never slows, especially for Shelbourne in the middle of a Champions League campaign that has them welcoming European specialists Qarabag to Dublin before next week’s second leg in Azerbaijan when Joey O’Brien’s squad is expected to be rerouted to the Europa League.
If Shelbourne can pull off a shock and progress to round three, the winners of Steaua Bucharest and Shkëndija of North Macedonia will be waiting.
It is a side note this week, but on Tuesday Shels drew St Patrick’s Athletic away in the last 16 of the FAI Cup.
“Great draw,” said O’Brien. “That’s what football is all about, Dublin derbies. Coming from just around the corner, these are the games I loved playing in. If you want to win the Cup you have to take a few big scalps.”
READ MORE
Qarabag would be a big scalp.
Shelbourne have moved with haste to address Conor Kearns’s hamstring injury sustained during last week’s 2-1 win on aggregate over Linfield.
In comes the imposing Dutch goalkeeper Wessel Speel, on loan from Minnesota United, with the 23-year-old possibly starting the second leg in Baku next Wednesday.
In the meantime, Lorcan Healy is set to cover for Kearns at Tolka Park.
“I’ve full confidence, Lorcan’s in tomorrow, he has the jersey and it’s up to him to perform,” said O’Brien as Speel finished his photo shoot on the Tolka pitch.
“[Speel] came on to our radar about six months ago, we’ve been following him since then. An opportunity came up for him to come in, the situation with Conor being out.”
This fixture has come too soon for Jack Henry-Francis, a 21-year-old defensive midfielder who arrived from Arsenal last week, but Mark Coyle has shaken off the knee issue he sustained against Linfield at Windsor Park.
“Since Jack left Arsenal he’s missed a good chunk of time. We need to get him going over the next weeks, so he should be ready to go in the next round.”
It would be easy to suggest that Shelbourne are in bonus territory, with Uefa prize money of over €1 million guaranteed, but they are in a strong position to reach the Conference League group stages.
Defeats to Qarabag, a squad valued at €24.15 million on transfermarkt.com to Shelbourne’s €3 million, and Europa League opponents would see Shels playing a Conference playoff to bank a guaranteed €3.17 million.
“It’s a home game for us, there’s going to be a great atmosphere here,” said O’Brien. “As I said to the lads earlier on, I’m going to attack it, try and get on the front foot.
“Obviously we know they are going to be a quality team, they have some serious players. At home, the way I want to be as a player and want my team to play, I want to attack and get on the front foot and show our personality and our quality.”
The dangerous Brazilian Kady Borges, who featured for Robbie Keane’s Hungarian champions Ferencváros last season, will test the concentration levels of Kerr McInroy as Shels are forced to adopt a defensive approach.
An obvious advantage for O’Brien’s battle-hardened team is that Qarabag arrive undercooked, having only played preseason friendlies against Twente and Salzburg.
