"Topsy-turvy" seems a rather mild way to describe it but that's how Bohemians central defender Eoin Mullen sums up his season as he prepares for tonight's Harp Lager FAI Cup second round clash with Shelbourne.

Mullen, like the club itself, has been through the wars since the summer, but in recent months he has firmly established himself as a first team regular and has been a key factor in their rise from the danger zone.

It's all come as something of a surprise to the 33-year-old who signed a new two-year contract at Dalymount during the close season but soon discovered that he didn't figure in the plans of the then manager Joe McGrath.

Being left on the side lines for some of the pre-season games didn't worry the former Shamrock Rovers man too much but when by the end of September he had come off the bench just twice to play a total of 60 minutes competitive football in nine games he became concerned about his future.

Over the course of a hectic week, though, McGrath was replaced and when Turlough O'Conor announced the team for the game against his old club, Shamrock Rovers, Mullen found himself back in favour. Since then he is, along with Michael Dempsey and Tommy Byrne, one of only three players at the club to have started every game.

"I was surprised when Joe went because I really didn't expect anything to happen so soon but, yeah, I was disappointed not to be involved in the first team set-up until then.

"I was a bit surprised, too, because things weren't going well and when that's the case you sort of expect to get a chance. If a team's flying and you're not involved well, then you sort of reckon that maybe this guy's on to something but that wasn't the case and yet I still wasn't getting a look in so that was certainly a bit frustrating."

O'Connor's return, though, followed by Roddy Collins's elevation to manager, provided Mullen with just the opportunity that he had been hoping for and while he admits now that it took a bit of time for him to recover his fitness and recover his confidence he has been pleased by the way things have gone over the past couple of months.

In the club's first six league games they conceded 15 goals while in the 15 since they allowed just nine past them and that, Mullen feels, has been the central factor in their turnaround.

"Michael Dempsey has played well and the midfield have been good so there's not a lot coming through for us to deal with but the defence has been solid too and that's allowed us to make progress - although we're well aware that we're only a game or two away from being right back in it."

Like Shelbourne, Bohemians started the season as being regarded as serious contenders for the championship and now both teams know that if they are to salvage anything, it is going to have to be a good cup run.

Mullen has the added incentive of never having played in a major final - the closest he came was a semi-final against Derry a couple of seasons back when, to his continuing embarrassment, he scored an own goal.

This time, although he insists that the priority is the league, he feels it can be different. Under Collins a considerable amount of confidence has been built up within the squad, and neither Mullen nor any of his team-mates have any doubts about their ability to win games like this evening's.

"You only have to look at the quality that we have in the squad," he says. "Roddy has added to that by bringing in players like Ray Kelly, Paul Byrne and Graham Doyle but just look at some of the players who are finding it difficult to get in the side. Lads like Brian Mooney and Peter Hanrahan.

"We know ourselves that with depth like that we should be winning things and there's only one way that we can do that now for this season so we'll all be looking forward to this game."