Shelbourne may have gone further than the Champions League second round last year, but, as they prepare for tonight's second round second leg clash with Steaua Bucharest at the Ghencea Stadium, they face their biggest test yet.
Having reached the third round last year, while capturing the public's imagination along the way, Shelbourne's appetite for European football was whetted and another stab at reaching the Champions League group stages is their goal.
They also know that this season, if they can reach the third round, getting into the multi-million euro group stages will, on paper, be a far more attainable task than last season with ailing Norwegian champions Rosenborg as their opposition.
However, thoughts of Rosenborg have to be put to one side for now because the not inconsiderable task of overcoming Steaua Bucharest remains.
A scoreless draw at Tolka Park last week was a good result for Shelbourne, though manager Pat Fenlon admits that knocking out the Romanian champions would still be the greatest ever achievement by an Irish side in Europe.
"By far it would be as far as I'm concerned," said Fenlon. "The best result that I've ever been involved in - either as a player or a manager. To come here and to get a win would be huge."
Fenlon is not letting himself dream about what his can do and admits that the only way Shelbourne can beat Steaua is by defending in numbers and hopefully getting a goal on the break.
"I'm not going to be stupid and say that we're 50-50. They're a better side than us and that's the bottom line. We've just got to try and cope with it as much as we can and cause them a few problems as well.
"We need to be patient. Everyone knows you don't need to concede too early. But, even at that point, 0-0 is the same as 1-0 as far as I'm concerned. It's still the same game so it's important if we do concede that we don't panic.
"Then if we get to 10 or 15 minutes we can throw the kitchen sink at it. We still have a good chance at that stage if it's still tight. I think they'll be the ones who'll become edgy and nervous.
"I wouldn't mind if it went to extra-time. We've got good legs in the team at the moment. The first 25 or 30 minutes are going to be important with movement and tracking runners and that sort of stuff.
"But we will push forward when we get the chance. With Jason Byrne, Alan Moore and Stuart Byrne in midfield we've got plenty of legs to get forward. We've got legs wide as well. We'll push on with it when the time arises."
With having "the legs" paramount, Fenlon admitted that a training session on Monday evening in boiling temperatures was an eye-opener for him as he re-evaluated his plans for the game.
While Shelbourne will still play with five in midfield, Fenlon is now concerned that Wes Hoolahan is not ready for the game after missing four-days training last week through illness.
It means that the majority of the side will now likely be the same with Jamie Harris, if he can prove he has recovered from dehydration sickness, expected to slot in at centre half in place of the suspended Colin Hawkins.
"The only change will probably be centre half to be honest with you.
"Again it's depending on how people are, because Ollie (Cahill) wasn't well. We sent him to bed early. We could play Wes Hoolahan there, we could play Alan Moore there or we could play Wes in the middle. But I need to make sure they are 100 per cent."
