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Uefa had an interesting interpretation of Shelbourne’s starting 11 against Ajax John Russell is leading the League of Ireland side into battle against Ajax Amsterdam in the Conference League on Thursday. Shelbourne have, unsurprisingly, gone with a conservative starting 11 on Thursday against Ajax Amsterdam. Reds boss John Russell has named his side for the Conference League game and he has opted to start without a recognised striker. While Uefa’s technical team sheet lists Milan Mbeng and Evan Caffrey alongside Daniel Kelly in a three-man attack, it’s more likely that Kelly will be the most advanced player in a formation that will more often than not resemble a 5-5-0. Russell stated ahead of the match that he wanted to keep the tie alive ahead of next week’s second leg in Tolka Park. He said: “Our lads know what we need to do and we’ll execute that. It’s 11 v 11. Yeah, they’ve got top-class players, we are going to have to be mentally dialed in and have concentration for 90-plus minutes. “It’s about trying to stay in the tie and hopefully bring something back to Tolka Park.” So he has kept the returning Mipo Odubeko, Portuguese striker Rodrigo Freitas and teenager Dan Ring on the bench in the Johan Cruyff Arena. Other attack-minded players such as Ali Coote and Will Jarvis have also been kept in reserve. Kick-off is 7pm Irish time and the game is being televised live on Premier Sports 1, and streamed on LOITV.