‘We've only half the job done' – Athlone's Shauna Brennan targets Champions League progression with tough four-day turnaround
Athlone's players were all making their Champions League debuts against Cardiff and they are keen to extend their European season as far as possible.
"It'll definitely be a different challenge on Saturday and we're expecting that. We know that we've only half the job done. Wednesday means nothing without Saturday so that's our focus,' says Athlone's Galway-born Shauna Brennan.
"We know they're going to be a new challenge, they're going to be a good side. They've won the Croatian League but we'll look at their key players and we'll be ready for whatever comes at us.'
Town's home ground was packed for the Cardiff game and another sell-out is expected for the visit of the Croatians as Brennan says that – despite the gloss of that 4-0 scoreline – the crowd did play a role.
'We haven't had a crowd like that before. It was a record crowd so it was great to see the support from everybody in Athlone to actually sell out the stadium. We were hoping it would be a sell out but obviously that depends on the fans and it was great to see them all come out and they're in blue and black,' she says.
"I think it helped us in the first 10 minutes. We hit the ground running and I think the crowd really got behind us to do that and it helped us to win them tackles, the cheers from the crowd. They definitely did help us to get up for the game and be ready.'
With a debate within the game overall about recovery and a mandated rest period between games, it's a big ask for the Athlone players – many of whom are part-time – to turn around and play two Champions League ties in four days.
"It's tough,' says Brennan, who parked her Gaelic football career with Galway to focus on soccer with Athlone.
'We do have a lot of players that are full-time in Athlone but then there's the likes of myself and some of the other girls that are working or in college.
"We stayed up on Wednesday night to get our recovery in and we'll do a light session on Friday night, a walkthrough probably and we'll be ready to go.'
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