‘No regrets’ - Shelbourne manager’s battle cry ahead of Champions League showdown with Linfield

Joey O’Brien has urged his Shelbourne team to have “no regrets” when they come off the Windsor Park pitch tonight.

Shelbourne are playing for a place in the second qualifying round of the Champions League and a more straightforward path to group stage football - and they lead 1-0 after last week’s first-leg in Tolka Park.

Mipo Odubeko’s second-half strike is all that separates the two sides after a dominant Reds display, so the tie remains wide open in Belfast.

O’Brien insists there is no talk of pressure inside the Reds camp as they look to progress and bring their European earnings over the €1.7million mark.

“I just tell the lads, that’s not pressure, that shouldn’t be a fear,” said the Shels boss. “You shouldn’t think, if this goes wrong, what’s going to happen?

“It’s what you wanted as a kid, you wanted to be involved in these games. It’s the pinnacle of club football, it’s the reality of it and we are at the very start of it.

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“And it’s just about going out, embracing it and enjoying it, and showing how good a player you are.

“That’s a big thing for me since I’ve come into the job. Talking to the boys, it’s just about that, go out and show everyone how good a player you are. That’s the biggest thing for me.

“When I was a player, that’s what I wanted to be told - go out and show people how good a player you are, and that you are good enough to be at this level.

“The lads have earned the right to be at this level, they did it last year. Now it’s about going out and making sure you have no regrets.”

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