BK Hacken manager Jens Gustafsson is anticipating coming up against a Shelbourne side that he believes are a little bit less direct than other League of Ireland sides.
The Swedish club from the football hotbed of second city Gothenburg are Shels' first opponents in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League on a historic night for the north Dublin club at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday as they contest the group stage of a European competition for the first time.
Speaking at the pre-game press conference in Tallaght on Wednesday evening, Hacken boss Gustafsson shared his thoughts on what he thinks Joey O'Brien's Shels will bring to the table.
"We have seen Shelbourne like we have seen other teams that we have played when we were qualifying for the Conference League," he told RTÉ Sport.
"We have done similar analysis. Shelbourne is a team that are a very direct playing team. (But) I don't think it's a very direct team if you compare (them) to other Irish teams.
"But it's still a team that are more direct than we are used to, more physical than we are used to. But it's still a good football team."
Shelbourne will not be the first Irish team that Gustafsson has faced as a head coach. In July 2019, he was manager of fellow Swedish top flight side IFK Norrkoping when they saw off St Patrick's Athletic 4-1 over two legs in the Europa League qualifiers. Three years later, he was head coach of Sweden's Under-21s when the Republic of Ireland beat them 2-0 in the city of Boras.
While they were vastly different experiences, Gustafsson feels there are some traits that remain relevant when facing Irish sides and that he expects to carry over into the meeting with Shels.
"The teams in Ireland play very different to the teams in Sweden so we expect more direct opponents, more physical game than normal and more crosses than normal," he said.
"So this game will ask a lot from us from a physical perspective and a duels perspective and a second balls perspective.
"But we also need to play our game and make sure we do this as much as possible."
Hacken arrived in Ireland off the back of a 2-0 home win over the aforementioned Norrkoping at the weekend. But that victory had followed a domestic run of six defeats, two draws and just one win from their previous nine league games that has left them lying 10th in the Swedish Allsvenskan, fueling belief that Thursday will be a game that Shels can really target from a points-winning perspective.
"We have been struggling in the league a bit during the summer," Gustafsson admitted.
"We have seen the consequences of this now so (Norrkoping) was a crucial game for us to win this game and I think we did in a good way as a team.
"Everyone was determined to make sure we win this game and we did in a good way."
That run of form partially coincided with their journey through the Europa League and Conference League qualifiers where they enjoyed sone notable aggregate wins over Belgian giants Anderlecht and CFR Club of Romania, the latter by a 7-3 margin.
On whether the demands of European football had impacted Hacken domestically, Gustafsson said it was just one factor.
"Actually that's one part but we have had a very demanding, challenging season," he said.
"We had a lot of injuries from the beginning of March and that has had a huge effect on us during a full season.
"We're starting to get players back now," he added, also pointing to the integration of new arrivals from the summer window.
"We look more stable as a team now but still there are consequences from the past that's probably one of the reasons that we are in this situation."
Also speaking at the press conference, Hacken's club captain Simon Gustafson told RTÉ Sport that he was hopeful that the Shelbourne game could be a game to help them get back on an even keel after what he characterised as a "very eventful year".
"Like the coach said, we are excited. It's going to be a good challenge," said the 30-year-old former Feyenoord midfielder, who earned two senior caps for Sweden in 2015.
"Coming from a harder period, we are looking forward to building on the last game and build a new trend."
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