Stephen Bradley says he 'doesn't need to take chances' with Rovers' Byrne and McEneff due to squad depth

That outlook heightens the possibility of new signing Conor Malley making his European debut for Rovers

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley trusts in his squad. File picture: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Uefa Conference League, third round (first leg): Ballkani v Shamrock Rovers, Pristina — Thursday, 7.30pm Irish time.

Stephen Bradley insists he can afford to avoid risking Jack Byrne and Aaron McEneff for this Conference League hurdle due to the depth of his Shamrock Rovers squad.

The Premier Division leaders are in Kosovo for their first leg against Ballkani with a place in a playoff duel with either Larne or Portuguese outfit Santa Clara on the line.

Bradley has in his armoury the most experienced squad in Ireland when it comes to European competition. Four Champions League campaigns on the spin accrued two years of entrance into the group stage, last year’s breaking new ground by reaching the knockout stages.

While they’ve began from a different start point, the target destination remains the same.

Being seeded bolsters their prospects too but the fact Rovers have left behind an array of stars underlines confidence levels internally. They’ve also learned lessons from casualties during last year’s campaign.

Matt Healy, Graham Burke, Trevor Clarke, Aaron McEneff and Jack Byrne haven’t travelled — the latter pair spared next Thursday’s second leg too.

Rovers’ Jack Byrne will miss the first leg clash with Ballkani. File picture: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

“If this was the last game of the season to win the league or the FAI Cup final, I'm sure they would all be available to play,” explained the Hoops manager.

“But we're in a position that we've got a really good squad and everybody's ready to play.

“I think that's really important. Last year, we were forced into that because of the injury situation. And as a result, we kept re-injuring the players.

“We don't need to take those chances. Sitting on a plane for three-and-a-half hours, followed by a coach journey, won’t help niggles.”

That outlook heightens the possibility of new signing Conor Malley making his European debut.

“We saw from his performance against Derry City on Sunday why we tried really hard to sign him for a long time”, said Bradley, referencing the weekend win that stretches their lead at the summit to 10 points with 10 games left.

“He slots right into what we do. I think there's so much more to come from him when he understands exactly what we do. But he's here for a reason because we think he's a top player. You'll definitely see Conor over the next few months play a big part in what we do.”

Bradley wasn’t accepting a draw as a desirable outcome ahead of their Tallaght return next Thursday, only evidence that they can maintain standards set in recent years.

“Not having the Champions Path this year, we knew it was going to be difficult but our aim is to get into the league phase again.”