Shelbourne's Champions League hero Mipo Odubeko shares his prediction for second leg clash with Linfield

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

MIPO Odubeko revealed he feared being replaced rather than supported by Seán Boyd.
It is advantage Shelbourne in their
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The 22-year-old joined Shelbourne after his Fleetwood Town contract was cancelled
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Odubeko added to his six league goals last night in the Champions League qualifier
His strike came after an earlier chance to get on the scoresheet had been taken away when a penalty decision was reversed following a VAR check.
And, when he saw Boyd limbering up ahead of entering the fray early in the second half, he admitted he thought he might be about to be hooked before hitting the back of the net within two minutes of the change.
Boyd got the better of two Linfield players and laid if off to Odubeko who shifted it onto his left before burying it in the corner with a little help from a deflection.
On whether he could be hauled ashore, Odubeko said: "I was thinking that, to be fair.
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'The two upfront works well. We've a good relationship, a great understanding of each other both on and off the pitch. That does help. Credit to him.
'Myself and Seán have a great relationship. He's sort of like a big brother figure for me. When we're on the pitch together we work really well.
'I was happy to see him come on. He did the right thing and I scored. I'm happy for me but also him.'
It looked as though Odubeko and Evan Caffrey were debating as to who would take the spot-kick whilst the incident was reviewed but Odubeko said: 'I was going to take the penalty.
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'I wasn't thinking much about VAR, only about where I was going to put it. It was overturned but we got there in the end.'
After a strong start, Shels struggled to keep up the momentum in the latter stages of the second half before making the breakthrough within 13 minutes of the restart.
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And Odubeko said: 'It was just about focussing.
'A lot of people said to me at half-time: 'I know you haven't touched the ball much in the first half but the chance will fall and make sure you're ready'. I think I did that really well.
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'The first half was really difficult. They made it really tight for us and hard to play against. It was hard to get shots off but I knew the chance would fall for me. I was there to take it so I'm really happy.
'We had enough chances to score more than one. We didn't come away with more than one. Sometimes that happens.
'There's been games this season where we dominated more but came away with no goals. Listen, we're happy with one and the win.'
The victory was an important moment as Shels look to move on following
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Odubeko said: 'It's been really tough for the lads over the last few weeks. There's been a lot of external talk around the club but the lads have really focussed and carried out the job.
'The performances over the last few games have been really good. It's all credit to the lads and I'm really proud of them.'
But they still have work to do at Windsor Park next Wednesday to ensure they progress to meet Qarabag in the next round.
He said: 'We won but they made it tough for us. I'd like to think it will be an even tougher game next week but the fact is the tie is far from over. We'll just prepare for next week.
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"We've a job to do so hopefully we do it. There's games there to win and games that we're capable of winning. Our focus is going to do that.'