Rachel Graham: Every Shelbourne player has belief in bid for double

Shelbourne midfielder Rachel Graham says not looking back in anger towards a crucial league defeat proved pivotal as they came out on top in their FAI Women's Cup quarter-final derby to leave the club well placed to fight on two fronts in the upcoming run-in.

Shels lost 2-1 to Athlone Town on 17 August to slip three points adrift of the Midlanders in the battle for the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division title.

But Eoin Wearen's side bounced back against rivals Shamrock Rovers in the cup on Monday night, despite going down to 10 players following captain Pearl Slattery's sending off, as Megan Smyth Lynch scored the only goal of the game.

The reward for the Dubliners is a semi-final against Cork City that will be played on the week of 20-22 September.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport's Shane Dawson following Tuesday's draw, Graham said Shelbourne did not allow the bitter taste of defeat to Athlone colour their perspective.

"Last week we obviously had a tough defeat against Athlone and it's easy to start licking your wounds and stuff but that's not the character of this squad," she said.

"We've been hit before, we've been down before and we've come back. So there's no doubt in my mind that every player in there believes we can win the league and the cup.

"So it's just going about our business now, being professional and all you can do is your best."

They had to show character against Shamrock Rovers after skipper Slattery was shown a second yellow card and Graham felt that Shels benefited from not going into their shells despite the Hoops having the numerical advantage.

"We knew we could push on and get a winner but you have to box clever in these situations and it's getting the balance right and that's where the experience comes in," she