Rovers must rise to another big occasion

ANOTHER big European night in Tallaght this evening, and all at Shamrock Rovers will be hoping it’s not the last of an already pulsating season for the club beyond the relative comfort zone of the League of Ireland.

Having failed to make the big breakthrough in the Champions League, the group stages of the Europa League now beckon for the Hoops but standing in their way is yet more formidable opposition in the form of Partizan Belgrade, a storied club who have won the last four leagues in succession in Serbia and, last season, reached the group stages of the Champions League.

“We’ve learned with each game we’ve played in Europe,” said Rovers boss Michael O’Neill, “and we have to draw on them now for experience. I think the key tonight is not to concede a goal, and to try and score.”