Uefa Conference League: Shamrock Rovers v Hamrun Spartans, Tallaght Stadium, Thursday, 8pm – Live Premier Sports 1 & TNT Sports 3
While last week’s dispiriting defeat against Breidablik in windswept Reykjavik ended tenuous hopes of making the knockout stages in February, Shamrock Rovers still have a fair deal more than pride to play for as they end their European campaign at Tallaght Stadium tonight.
As well as the not inconsiderable win bonus of €400,000 on the table, there are coefficient points to be won while, with just one point from their five games, Rovers, currently 35th, will naturally also be keen to avoid potentially finishing bottom of the 36-team table.
“We’re obviously disappointed that we haven’t qualified out of the league phase, that was one of our ambitions this year,” lamented Hoops’ head coach Stephen Bradley.
“We did it last year, we want to do that on a regular basis, and we haven’t managed to do it this year. The reason why is for us to understand as a staff, and we went through that review [yesterday] morning in quite some detail, domestically and in Europe, so we understand where we came up short, where we need to improve for next year, and we will.”
RM Block
While they were the first League of Ireland side to qualify for a league phase from the non-champions path, their five results to date in it have been frustratingly disappointing, even allowing for tougher opposition than last year.
“We’ve been, in my opinion, unlucky,” added Bradley. “We’ve had some brilliant nights in Europe this year, but we’ve let some results get away from us in the league phase.
“Breidablik is definitely one of them. Celje here, in the first half we were off it and we let them get ahead and gave ourselves too much to do. I feel we should have got something out of Shakhtar. Athens was taken away from us. There were a number of games that you can go into.
“You could sit here all day and talk about what ifs and buts and maybes. We haven’t got enough points and that’s the bottom line.
“We need to learn from it, we need to be better for it and come back stronger next year, be ready for every competition next year.
“We want to try to win [tonight] and send our fans home with three points over Christmas. That will be the aim.”
With three points from their one win over Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar, Maltese champions Hamrun are also out of contention for the knockout phase, but Bradley is wary of the challenge they bring to Dublin 24.
“They’re a good team,” cautioned Bradley. “I genuinely believe that.
“I’ve watched a number of their games this year. I know a few people that work in Malta and they say the same. They’re a good team.
“They’ve been very close in a lot of their games. I think results are false [compared] to what they’ve done in the games. You’ll see. They have a clear identity. Their front three are really dangerous. They’ll cause us problems, I have no doubt.”
Defender Lee Grace is added to Rovers’ injury absentees of Danny Mandroiu, Aaron McEneff and Josh Honohan who has been linked with a January move to English League One side Lincoln City.
