SLIGO BOSS John Russell expressed delight on Thursday evening after his side dumped Scottish Premiership team Motherwell out of the Europa Conference League.

It is the first time in the Bit O’Red’s history that they have reached the third round in Europe and the manager was understandably jubilant following an intense and memorable night at the Showgrounds.

“The energy in the stadium was incredible from start to finish, these European nights are so special,” he told reporters.

“The challenge we put down to the players was: could we go and win?

“Obviously, we were leading the tie 1-0 and we had a fabulous performance but I felt myself a bit flat after the Bala game — I know we got through the tie but we didn’t perform.

“[Tonight] I felt defensively we were really good, we had a really good shape about us, what a goal Shane Blaney got to lift the place after three minutes. I’m so happy for him and I feel he’s really come on in the last couple of weeks. He’s a top player and has really grown as a leader in the group.

“I’m just so proud of the players — I see them day to day, the work they put into training, the video analysis stuff, the gym work we do with our strength and conditioning coach, at the team meetings we’re trying to push and raise the bar, get through this round, get into the third round and create history, it’s fabulous.”

Russell was involved in Sligo’s heartbreaking near miss back in 2014 against Rosenborg, and the coach acknowledged that memories of that frustrating night had been in his thoughts this week.

“I used to have sleepless nights and now I can sleep a bit better. It was the one that got away. To put on the performance we did at the time, come back here, go 1-0 up, it was a killer, and that was in my mind going into the game.

“It helped. I learned from those experiences. We had a game plan going into tonight. The early goal really helped. I felt we managed the game. There were times when they had a lot of possession but they weren’t hurting us. Ultimately, you’d love to be on the ball for 90 minutes and spraying it around, but they’re a good team and we had to play to our strengths, try to nullify them, and I think we did.”

Next up for Sligo is a tie against Viking of Norway, with a spot in the playoff round up for grabs. Does Russell believe that everything from this point onwards is a bonus?

“From the outside, people would think that, as this is the first time in the history of the club that a Sligo Rovers team has qualified for the third round. So you could look at it as bonus territory.

“But I’d probably flip it and say we’ve got a really talented group of players that are professional footballers, full time, they’re training really well. There’s a real togetherness, unity, a team spirit in the group and you can see it tonight. That can take you to special places. We’re on a great run at the moment, it’s a fabulous journey, and we want to keep going.”

Additional reporting by Jessica Farry