Shelbourne have issued a statement in which they make it clear their central defender Pat Scully is not for sale and that he remains under contract at the club for another two seasons.

The club acknowledges that it has had bids for the 29-year-old from two English clubs - Rushden and Diamonds as well as Halifax Town - both valued at about £60,000 but that on each occasion Scully said he would not be interested in moving.

Club secretary Ollie Byrne had previously reacted angrily to reports that Dublin's three other big clubs had all been in contact with the player about a move after rumours circulated he wanted to leave Tolka Park because of a falling out with some of his team-mates.

Longford Town, meanwhile, have confirmed that they intend to play the home leg of their forthcoming UEFA Cup tie at Flancare Park. Because of the regulations governing spectator facilities at European games, it had been thought the club might have been forced to move the game or settle for a very limited capacity.

However, the club's vice-chairman, Jim O'Halloran, said yesterday they hoped to be in a position to have about 6,000 seats in place at Flancare Park by the start of August. "We're examining all of the possibilities at the moment," he said, "but with the support of the FAI we're confident that we will be able to do something.

"It would be a terrible shame if the club was to qualify for European competition but then had to move the game and there aren't really too many options open to us other than to press ahead at our own ground. We will have a good bit more work done around the place by then anyway and it is a question of how best we can deal with the facilities in the other parts of the ground."

The FAI have confirmed that all the tickets for Ireland's forthcoming World Cup qualifier against Portugal have been sold. The news follows the confirmation by Portugal that they will be taking up their full allocation.