We won’t dwell on last year’s Shels fiasco, Dolan insists
The furore that followed the reduction of St Pat's points total by 15 and knocked them off the top of the table while elevating Shels into the winning position cannot have helped relations between the clubs.
But St Pat's manager Dolan said yesterday: "The only thing that is important in football is the next match.
"Statistics show that our record over the past 18 months is the best in the history of the club.
"We are proud of that but looking back is a recipe for disaster, all that matters is our next match."
St Pat's go into the game unbeaten in the league this season but their matches in Europe mean they have played only twice.
They have reason to be more upbeat than Shels because they were unlucky to lose to Ghent of Belgium on away goals. Shels were far from their best when they lost to Hibernians of Malta at Tolka Park.
After four matches in the league Shels have seven points Since their match against Hibernians, they have stepped up their performances.
They won 3-1 against UCD last weekend and crushed Bray Wanderers 5-1. Neither they nor St Pat's players will need motivating for this contest.
Said Dolan: "More and more nowadays you hear managers complaining that players are not that committed and that playing for the jersey is an old-fashioned attitude but it will never go out of fashion at St Pat's.
"If you look hard enough and turn over enough stones you will find great people who care, who will take pride in carrying on an honourable tradition and who will wear the red and white shirt of St Pat's with pride and with honour."
St Pat's successfully came through one derby match last week when they beat Shamrock Rovers 1-0 and they are likely to avoid defeat in tonight's clash as well.
Shamrock Rovers manager Liam Buckley and his assistant Derek Treacy travelled to Stockholm to watch their UEFA Cup opponents, Djurgardens IF, in action ahead of their meeting in Dublin on Thursday.
Djurgardens are lying third in their domestic league, a couple of points behind leaders Malmo and Orgryte. They have won six of their 13 league matches and lost just three.
Djurgardens, one of Sweden's oldest clubs, was established in 1821 in Stockholm. They will be making its first appearance in European competition since 1996/97 and in this sense have much to share with Rovers.
Buckley and Treacy will be well aware Ireland's other two teams in Europe this season Shelbourne and St. Patrick's Athletic were both eliminated because they conceded goals in Dublin.
For this reason they will be taking special note of Djurgardens' potential in attack. Rovers have had a disappointing run of form at the wrong time. They have won only one of their four League matches and lost last time out to St Pat's. They face a difficult match on Sunday when they play UCD at Tolka Park.
The impact of summer soccer has been totally positive to date with more goals being scored and attendances offering the administrators encouragement for their initiatives. And the response of the players has also been supportive.
Bohemians' striker Glen Crowe had a simple explanation for the healthy goal-scoring rate: "I think one of the reasons why more goals are being scored is because of the better condition of the pitches and the better atmosphere at the matches."
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