Shels kick off Champions League campaign

Shelbourne kick off their Champions League campaign against Glentoran at The Oval tonight hoping for a good result to take back to Tolka Park for next week’s second leg.

Shelbourne reached the third round last year, though manager Pat Fenlon is taking nothing for granted, insisting his side must remain cautious.

“I think it will be very similar to a League game. Obviously you have to be cagey because it doesn’t have to be won on the night. We’ve still got to take them back to our place as well,” he said.

“We have done well away from home in Europe. We’ve scored a few goals on the road and, if we do that again, it will give us a great chance of progressing.”

Fenlon is likely to adopt a similar approach to a League game by using a 4-4-2 formation rather than the 4-5-1 formation he adopted in Europe last season and he has a near full-strength squad to choose form.

Dave Rogers (neck), Richie Baker (foot) and Colin Hawkins (calf) are all recovering from injuries though they should be okay while Alan Moore and Jim Crawford are unlikely to start as he continue their recover from injuries.