Shamrock Rovers will 'respect' St Joseph's in Conference League qualifier says Stephen Bradley

RESPECT: Shamrock Rovers are favourites to navigate the second-round tie against St Joseph’s, the first leg of which takes place in Gibraltar on Thursday. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor.

After reaching European group stages in two of the last three years, Shamrock Rovers will have to do it the harder way to maintain their record.

Relinquishing their title to Shelbourne last season tumbled the Hoops into the Conference League, as opposed to the Champions League they’ve begun in the four previous years.

Drogheda United’s expulsion meant they bypassed the first round, boosting their minimum prize-money to €525,000 but they’ve an arduous route through the main path to replicate last year’s surge to the knockout stages and €6.4m of earnings.

They’ll be favourites to navigate the second-round tie against St Joseph’s, the first leg of which takes place in Gibraltar on Thursday, before meeting either Ballkani of Kosovo or Malta’s Floriana for a playoff berth.

Stephen Bradley expected to be facing the familiar faces of Cliftonville at this stage until the Saints produced a shock in last week’s second leg at Solitude to prevail 5-4 on aggregate.

“They play similar systems to ourselves,” said Bradley after watching their opponents first-hand in Belfast.

“They’ve scored five goals over the two legs against Cliftonville so they know how to find the net.

“There’s no doubt they have some really dangerous players. You can see they have good quality in midfield and their front three are dangerous.

“We’ve watched them in real detail and they’ll be given the respect they deserve.”

Mediterranean heat will be a factor for the first leg but Bradley won’t use the artificial pitch as an excuse.

“It’s an astro turf pitch but I didn’t think we could experience anything like NK Celje’s surface in Slovenia pitch last season. We did and dealt with it, so whatever this game throws up in terms of the pitch and conditions, we’ll be ready for.”

Bradley’s squad are fit and well, with skipping the first round an added bonus to the free weekends created by bringing fixtures forward.

Victor Ozhianvuna featured in last season’s march through the rounds and it’s expected the 16-year-old’s pre-contract move to Arsenal, worth an initial €2m to Rovers, will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

“Victor is a special talent and I’ve been saying that for quite some time,” Bradley said of the versatile playmaker who scored his first senior goal in last week’s FAI Cup win over Wexford.

“His attitude is really high level stuff and like Michael Noonan, Victor has an elite mentality to the game which is so important if you want to be a football player, especially a young player.

“So many young players these days get sidetracked, but Victor is fully focussed which is brilliant. I loved the purity and innocence of his post-match interview.”

Meanwhile, St Patrick’s Athletic have the incentive of facing either Besiktas of Turkey or Ukrainians Shaker Donetsk in the third round should they overcome Nõmme Kalju, starting at home on Thursday (7.45pm).

“I always want a draw that gives us the best chance of progressing,” said Stephen Kenny about the Estonian opponents.

“People want a big one but I’m always wanting the draw that gives us the best chance of progressing.

“European games can be the pinnacle of a player’s career. We played in Lithuania last week and we go to Estonia for next week’s second leg. You want to continue on that journey and go again. You don’t want to stop. They are big games and we look forward to this.”