Champions League First Qualifying Round: Shelbourne v KR Reykjavik Tolka Park, 7.45With Hajduk Split of Croatia waiting for the winners in the next round of these Champions League qualifiers, Shelbourne will look to capitalise at Tolka Park this evening on two late goals in Reykjavik that have put Pat Fenlon's side in a fairly strong position to ease past Icelandic outfit KR.
Neither side goes into the tie with much form to boast of, the visitors having failed to win any of their four most recent league outings and Shelbourne having lost to Drogheda at the weekend after draws with Derry and Shamrock Rovers.
Both will also feel they are capable of improving fairly considerably on their performances in the first leg, in which neither side proved capable of taking command.
With Willum Thor Thorsson's array of current and former internationals having squandered a two-goal advantage during the closing stages of last Wednesday's game, however, it is the Dubliners who should start this evening's encounter in somewhat more buoyant form.
"The two away goals do put us in a strong position," said Fenlon yesterday, "but we know only too well from past experience that none of that counts for anything unless you actually drive the advantage home.
"The fact that they led 2-0 in the first game, combined with the quality of some of their players and the fact that they're ranked higher than us in Europe, makes it fairly clear that it's going to be hard for us to go through, but morale is always high in our dressing-room, on balance I feel we have the better overall group of players and if the crowd get behind us I see no reason why we can't go on to the next round."
Shelbourne are without a couple of prominent players for the game, with Jim Crawford (hamstring) and Glen Fitzpatrick (groin) both set to sit the evening out.
Wes Hoolahan, however, is reckoned to be fit enough to start despite a niggling groin strain, while Jamie Harris will almost certainly partner Dave Rogers in the centre of the team's defence despite taking a knock to the knee in the first meeting between the two sides.
For Harris the game represents another high point in what he considers to be the best period of his career.
Just over a year ago the 25-year-old was considering giving up on the game after a frustrating spell at St Patrick's, where he couldn't establish himself in the first team.
A friendly tournament involving Shelbourne, St Patrick's, Aston Villa and Leeds offered him the chance to impress Fenlon, however, and the Welshman hasn't looked back.
"I reckon I was a week away from packing it in and going back to full-time education when Pat saw me playing against Villa and decided that I was someone he could bring in to freshen things up here," Harris says.
Originally a striker when he arrived at Bohemians from Swansea, Harris has made a successful transition to defender although he is still occasionally thrown forward when the situation requires it.
He may eventually find himself back up in the opposition box late on this evening but only if the home side fails to contain a KR attack likely to be led by former Leicester, Bolton and Stoke City striker Arnar Gunnlaugsson and highly rated teenager Kjarten Finnbogasson, who will apparently be watched by Portsmouth this evening.
