Stephen Bradley: Shamrock Rovers won't suffer league title hangover against TNS

A win against the Welsh champions on Thursday would all but confirm at least a playoff place in February.

NO HANGOVER: Manager Stephen Bradley speaks to the media during a Shamrock Rovers press conference. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Stephen Bradley insists his Shamrock Rovers side won’t suffer from their league hangover when they host Welsh champions TNS in Thursday’s Conference League clash at Tallaght (5.45pm).

The Hoops have accrued four points from their opening pair of league phase games, holding APOEL to a 1-1 draw before pulverising Larne 6-1 at Windsor Park.

Another three points on Thursday would all but confirm at least a playoff place in February, with half of the six games remaining.

They have Rapid Vienna away on November 29, FK Borac at home on December 12 before concluding a week later at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

Shelbourne’s late win at Derry City on Friday denied Rovers an unprecedented fifth league title on the spin, the first time since 2018 a domestic trophy isn’t residing in Tallaght.

Once the Hoops navigated through the qualifying rounds of the European club circuit, an extension of their season was secured.

Their boss isn’t worried about their home discomforts lingering into the Uefa campaign.

“No, not really,” said Bradley, who will be without the injured duo Rory Gaffney and Sean Kavanagh, as well as the ineligible Marc McNulty.

“Being honest we weren’t good enough to win the league. It’s very easy to understand why we haven’t got a league winners medal in our hands come the end of the season.

“What also helps is, having been successful over a period of time, you understand not to get too high or too low and just to reflect and move on very quickly.

“This group has been brilliant at that throughout the years. And that definitely doesn’t changes just because we’ve lost the league this year.”

Bradley’s side haven’t been in an FAI Cup final since they lost to Dundalk in 2020 but he’ll watching Sunday’s showpiece between Derry City and Drogheda content that their priorities have worked.

“Is this European stage more important than the FAI Cup?,” said the 39-year-old, pondering the question.

“I don’t think there's any question about that for us. At the start of the year, for us it’s league, Europe and cup - in that order.

“We haven’t won the league and are doing well in Europe, so this is a rally big game for us tonight.”

TNS are top of their league and arrive in Tallaght having registered an impressive 2-0 win over Astana – marking their first progression to this stage of the competition.

Two ex-Derry City players – Rory Holden and Josh Daniels – are part of their team, with the former scoring against the Kazakhstan outfit.

“They have a really clear identity and you can see they are really well coached,” surmised Bradley.

“There’s a really clear identity in how they play, a possession-based team with lots of really good, technical players.

“They have clever movement in and out of possession. They also have a lot of experience within the team who have been around the leagues in England and you can see that in how they play.

"They have a really not blend about them. We’re under no illusion that it’s a difficult game against a good team.”