The most disappointed man in the Shelbourne travelling party to Macedonia to face Sloga Jugomagnat last week was captain Pat Scully.

Scully had just returned from injury and missed out on a starting place in the team. He didn't even know if he would see any action even though he was named on the substitute bench.

Scully was called on the play his part when manager Dermot Keely called for his experience in the second half of the game but tonight he will lead out the Dublin team as they try to create their own piece of history.

Despite leading 1-0 from the first leg, tonight's game won't be a stroll in the park. Sloga have three international players on their team. They played nearly all of the football in the first leg but Shels defended with massive spirit to earn the unlikely result.

Shels defence has been a tough one to crack over the last couple of seasons and this is mostly down to Scully's marshalling of his men.

If they keep their concentration tonight they should be in the second round of the Champions League and a glamour tie with Norway's Rosenborg.

Scully knows that the job is only half done. He said: "We don't think we're through yet by any means. We know that we're going to have to play very well again and that to sit back and defend now would be very dangerous.

"It's an unusual position to be at home in a Champions League match defending a lead but, considering the heat and technical ability of the Sloga players, we've done well to get ourselves into this position. Now that we're at home we have the opportunity to show them that we can play a bit, which they showed us they could do over there last week."