Shels Ready for Rovers Under Lights | OneFootball

The big games keep coming for Sean Russell and his Shelbourne side. The Club Orange Women’s FAI Cup Final is on the horizon, but first they host Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers. The Head Coach sat down with ShelsTV ahead of Saturday night’s live TG4 game and began by speaking about being focused on the task at hand.

“The timing of this match is great for us. The reverse fixture (a 5-2 loss) was one that we were really disappointed with, and I know the girls are keen to put that right. It’s only natural that players have the final in the back of their minds; it’s something that we’re all aware of. But there is a real hunger and desire to go and get these three points because we still have lots to play for in this league. So I have no doubt that our full efforts and full focus will be put into Saturday.”

Under the lights at the Showgrounds and in front of the TG4 cameras last week, Shels saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end. Russell spoke about the importance of getting that winning feeling back again.

“We had been on a very long unbeaten run, and seeing how our players were after the game in Sligo gives me real confidence that we can bounce back on Saturday. We have a clear idea about what we could have done better, and we plan on putting that right now and applying those learnings to every game between now and the end of the season. That starts with Shamrock Rovers this Saturday.”

This season sees the runner-up spot in the SSE Women’s Premier Division rewarded with a European place for the first time ever. We asked the Head Coach if that was something that the players were excited by: “First and foremost, for the league I think it’s excellent that we now have those two spots. Our eyes were always on the league, but we are certainly aware of the opportunity to achieve European football. To play in Europe is something that is special about playing for top clubs and in top leagues, and that’s something that the players in our squad definitely want to be doing. We have two massive opportunities in front of us; we’ve got an FAI Cup Final, and we’ve got European football to aim for. It’s up to us now to give it our all to go and grasp those opportunities.”

Russell then gave an update on the squad’s fitness ahead of Saturday’s game: “We seem to be adding a player back every week or so now which is great. Halle (Harcourt) came back to us from Ireland-camp and she’s fine. Keeva (Keenan) has a few more sessions under her belt now and that will stand to her. Regarding Becky (Watkins), she’s trained this week and could potentially be available this weekend. We must manage her return obviously, but the early signs are definitely positive.”

The Shels boss signed off with another nod at the redemption his team are hungry for against this Rovers side: “Shamrock Rovers are a team that don’t stop. They show great belief in themselves; if they go behind in games they never give up. Obviously they showed that against us in Tallaght, but they also showed it against Galway when they were two goals down. So we need to assert ourselves in the early stages of the game, we need to improve our energy levels from last week and against Shamrock Rovers, we’re going to need to sustain that throughout the game. If we can do that, we can show that we’ve learned from last week and we’ll have a good chance of winning the game.”

Kick-off at Tolka Park is at 7:35 pm and the game is live on TG4.