Shels: Determination can get us through

Pat Fenlon was pinning his hopes on Shelbourne’s determination to get past French hot-shots Lille in the UEFA Cup tonight.

The eircom League champions managed only a 2-2 draw at Lansdowne Road two weeks ago - but Fenlon was still confident his players could progress via the away leg to the second round.

“We are all confident about Lille,” he said. “They are a good team, but what I remember from our first leg is our capacity to bounce back and level 2-2.

“My team are capable of defeating Lille. We will concentrate on our game and we will seize our chance. We know we must score an extra goal and above all not concede any.”

French league high-fliers Lille could, however, prove tough rivals – having bolstered their confidence in what has been a near flawless September.

"Les Dogues", currently second behind Monaco and one place above three-time French champions Lyon in the Ligue 1 table, have clinched four consecutive victories this month to go with their draw at Shelbourne. They have scored nine goals and conceded none in their last four league matches.

The French too were therefore confident about tonight’s match. “We are going to go through – we will qualify,” said midfielder Johan Audel, who scored the last of Lille’s four goals against Metz at the weekend.

“We cannot stop now,” added striker Matt Moussilou. “We saw in the first leg that the Irish were beatable. We want to celebrate and have a big party again with our supporters on Thursday.”

Fenlon was unsurprisingly not in agreement and made it clear his side would make things tough for the French.

“The statistics don’t mean anything to me. We come to Lille to crush them,” he said. "Lille are a solid side. In the first leg they probably thought they had won the match and qualification – but we showed them they were wrong.

“We are good challengers, and even if we are not playing at home I am convinced my players’ perseverance will help them go through again.”

Shelbourne captain Owen Heary added: “Lille’s performance in the first leg did not surprise us. We did not play our best, so the result was somehow logical. “It is fair to say their game disturbed us, but we are still confident.”