A 'difficult game' but Shamrock Rovers travel to Austria with gameplan to hurt Rapid
Shamrock Rovers head coach Stephen Bradley. Picture: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Seven points and virtually a playoff spot booked to the good already, Shamrock Rovers are in Conference League bonus territory.
SK Rapid are a class above what they’ve faced in the first half of the league phase, when their opener draw against APOEL was followed with wins over Larne and TNS.
Manager Robert KlauĂź turns 40 on Sunday and is already carving a name for himself as a coach on the rise.
He has taken the team from the Austrian capital into joint-second of the Bundesliga and clocked up three straight victories in this stage of the European competition.
Mostly stocked with domestic players, his star Austrian international Louis Schaub grabbed both goals in their last victory, a 2-1 win over a Başakşehir side which knocked St Patrick’s Athletic out on their way.
“It’s a very difficult game, there’s no doubt about that,” said Hoops boss Stephen Bradley about the challenge they face.
“Rapid is a big club; a big team with a big tradition. We know they have some really good players when you watch them, so we know it’s a difficult game.
“But we’ve played a lot of top teams, so we’ll have no fear and we’ll go with a gameplan.
“We must respect what they’re good at but at the same time, when we get our times in the game, we’ll see can we hurt them and that will be the aim.”Â
Rovers still have Bosnia and Herzegovina side Boruc Banja to come to Tallaght on December 12 before concluding at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.
Bradley places their playoff prospects at 97% and another two points is considered sufficient to advance directly in the last-16 in March. They’ll be training or playing all the way through the year due to the FAI’s summer season.
There’ll be short gaps in between, the primary one straight after Christmas. The domestic league and playoff are scheduled for February.
“Rory Gaffney will be out until next season while Danny Mandroiu and Seán Hoare remain out,” Bradley said of his injury list.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see Aaron McEneff again this season. He came off last week in the friendly against HJK.
"It didn’t look bad or feel bad, but the scan is telling us different. So it’s just been one of those seasons for Aaron, been stop/start and he came with a big injury from Australia so he’s been trying to play catch-up.
“The best decision now is just to shut him down and get ready for pre-season. Aaron Greene should be ok, he’s a bit sore but should be fine. It may be a bit early for Graham Burke, we’ll see.”Â
Meanwhile, a modern-day record League of Ireland attendance record could be reached on Sunday, February 16 when Bohemians move their opening season fixture against Rovers to the 51,000-seater Aviva Stadium.
What’s regarded as the biggest game in Irish football first took place 110 years ago and it has been 80 years since the clubs faced each other in the 1945 Men's FAI Cup final, which held the record crowd in the competition until the 2023 final between Bohs against St Patrick's Athletic when 43,881 people attended.
Bohs have worked hard over the past couple of months, alongside the FAI, and with the support of their neighbours rivals Rovers, to bring this game to fruition.
They said in a statement: “We wished to harness the huge growth in our own fanbase, and indeed that of the whole league, to bring the country’s most famous fixture to the country’s best stadium.
“When bringing the concept to the FAI, who were immediately fully supportive, we opted to forgo home advantage to make it a reality.
“Bohemian FC will operate the fixture as the home team in terms of branding, commercial arrangements, dressing room and the selection of the South Stand for our singing section."
Fixtures for that opening weekend, beginning on Friday, February 14, will be unveiled in the week before Christmas.
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