Comeback signing Danny Mandroiu to be involved for Shamrock Rovers against PAOK

“Danny is all cleared and available. He hasn’t played recently but has been training away and will be involved tomorrow," said Stephen Bradley.

DANNY BOY: Shamrock Rovers new signing Danny Mandroiu poses for a portrait at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Danny Mandroiu will be thrown straight into European action on Thursday for his second Shamrock Rovers debut.

The Hoops are already guaranteed European group stage involvement up to Christmas but another mammoth victory over PAOK would elevate the Irish champions to the Europa, rather than, Conference League.

That’s a huge task against the Greek champions, starting with the first leg at the 30,000-seater Toumba Stadium (6.30pm, Irish time) but Stephen Bradley is optimistic about taking a scalp.

His confidence is bolstered by the addition of midfielder Mandroiu, who recently rejected a contract extension offer from English League One side Lincoln City to make a homecoming two years after departing.

That Răzvan Lucescu’s side, despite being laced with talent such as Portuguese veteran Vieirinha, have conceded 10 goals in their opening five games of the season offers encouragement of an upset.

“PAOK have shown how to score goals but also that they can concede,” said Hoops boss Bradley about potential vulnerabilities in the team ranked 51 in Uefa’s rankings compared to their 157.

“I believe if we’re at our best we can score goals and tomorrow will be no different.

“Danny is all cleared and available. He hasn’t played recently but has been training away and will be involved tomorrow.

“We saw in our win over Celje last week how vital it is to take your moments and hopefully we do that.”

That victory over the Slovenians ensured that Rovers will have the fallback of Uefa’s third competition in terms of league phase participation, guaranteeing a prize pot of €3.8m from this campaign.

The draws take place in Monaco next week and there’s still an objective to be in the Europa, spiking their earnings above the €5m mark.

“It’s nice knowing that we’ve secured group stage football because that was one of our aims at the start of the year but nobody has started reflecting on the season,” Bradley added about their favourable predicament.

“We’re still in the league, have tomorrow and next week, as well as the group stages either way. There’s a lot to play for so the time for reflection is the end of the season.

“Our plan is to keep the tie alive back at Tallaght and let’s see what we have to do.”