Rovers have point to prove against Tallinn

CONSIDERING their profile and storied history, it’s a startling stat but a fact nonetheless: Shamrock Rovers have never won a game in Europe’s premier club competition.

Of course, they have had their glory nights in the Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Cup and, as recently as in last season’s Europa League, they emerged with huge credit from two games against mighty Juventus.

But when Estonian champions Flora Tallinn come to Tallaght tonight for the first leg of a Champions League second qualifying round, the Hoops will be aiming to erase a stain from their illustrious record. Manager Michael O’Neill is insistent that recent setbacks at the club, on and off the pitch, do not amount to anything even vaguely approximating a crisis for the Airtricity League champions, despite a recent media report which claimed things were ‘spiralling out of control’ in Tallaght.