Shelbourne striker Mipo Odubeko is relishing the prospect of being part of a historic night for League of Ireland clubs in Europe on Thursday when two clubs will simultaneously be involved in a competition proper for the first time.
Shels will make their league phase debut in the UEFA Conference League when they host BK Hacken of Sweden at Tallaght Stadium, while Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers, who will be in the Czech capital to face Sparta Prague, are in the competition for the second year in a row.
While the Hoops and Dundalk have both featured in European group stages, never before have two LOI clubs done so in the same season and the significance was not lost on Odubeko.
"It's really good for the country and the league and stuff like that to see two clubs qualify for a European group stages and we want more of it," he said at Shelbourne's pre-match press conference at Tallaght Stadium on Wednesday.
"We want more teams in European group stages, so long may it continue."
The former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international scored three goals as Shels wound their way through the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League and the chance of playing six more high-profile fixtures against continental opposition - games against AZ Alkmaar and Crystal Palace await before Christmas - is something Odubeko views as invaluable for him and his team-mates.
"Everyone is really looking forward to it," said the Dubliner.
"I think the excitement and everything of qualifying has been put to bed and now it's the next challenge.
"We want to go into the tournament and win games and make more memorable nights.
"There's a really big buzz around the European games and these are the games that you want to play in as a player. So I think everyone's looking forward to it.
"(It's) tougher opposition. We've played against really tough opposition in the summer, in the qualifying games.
"We played against the likes of Qarabag who are now in the Champions League and you want to test yourself against opposition like that. You want to play at the highest level as a player. These are just the opportunities that you relish as a player."
Shelbourne manager Joey O'Brien, who confirmed that defender Sam Bone would miss the Hacken game after picking up an injury in Friday's 2-1 win over Waterford, and goalkeeper Conor Kearns is sidelined for another few weeks, feels the gauntlet his side has already run on route to qualifying for the Conference League will prove beneficial in the white heat of the European spotlight.
"It's stood to the lads definitely. The more games you play in (Europe), you've seen they get more comfortable," he said.
"The level of opposition we played, obviously we'd Qarabag and Rijeka, really high (level) opposition. The lads really took that forward into the games and we've been in good form.
"Our overall performance has been really good so looking to keep that going tomorrow night."
While the former Shamrock Rovers defender acknowledges the significance of having two League of Ireland clubs in a European competition proper at the same time, O'Brien remains transfixed on Shels' own task in their Conference League home from home at Tallaght on Thursday rather than what the stadium's usual green and white clad tenants are doing over in Prague.
"It is what it is. Knowing the guys at Rovers, Stephen (Bradley) and all that, they'll be focusing on their own team, on their own game like the way we are here," he said.
"But it was great for the two teams to get through to the group stages. Look, we have our own business to take care of and so do they. So our whole focus is on tomorrow night and nailing down a performance."
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