Mathews: Shelbourne will have no fear

Shelbourne manager Alan Mathews has said his side will have no fear in Sunday’s FAI Cup final with Sligo Rovers in the Aviva Stadium.

Sligo are favourites to win the trophy after finishing second in the Premier Division this season and they won the competition last year by beating Shamrock Rovers.

Mathews admits it is a big ask for the First Division side but wants his players to show some of the talent that won promotion to the top flight for next campaign.

He told the Irish Examiner: “Yes, we will be underdogs, there’s no doubt about that.

“But we go in with no fear. We go in respecting our opponents but also knowing that we’ve got some very, very good players too. Underdogs yes, but no fear.

“You go open against a side like Sligo and you’re going to get picked off. We won’t be silly, we won’t go gung-ho but we’ll try and play our own game at the right times.

“Look, they’ve a rake of good, good players. You’ve got to match them for work-rate and for quality on the ball.

"But we’ll try to get our good players playing too – we want to get the likes of David Cassidy on the ball, players who have been good for us all season.”

It has been a long journey back to the big stage for Shels after demotion to the second tier of football in the country in 2007.

They have finally managed to regain their place in the Premier Division and Sunday’s final is a chance to make up for losing out on the league title on the final day of the season against Cork City.

Mathews said: “It’s a great occasion for the club. The thing nearly went bang and it was kept alive by the likes of Joe Casey and the board of management and the directors here.

“It’s brilliant to have the club back in the Premier Division, first of all, but to then have a day like this is something else.”