Stephen Bradley wary of Spartans’ three-pronged attack
Shamrock Rovers coach Stephen Bradley is determined to lead his side to a positive conclusion to their League Phase campaign, but warned his players and fans that he is expecting a very tough challenge from Ħamrun Spartans.
For Shamrock Rovers, this year’s participation in the League Phase of the Conference League was tinted with disappointment as the Irish champions were looking to emulate last season’s feat of progressing to the knockout stages of the UEFA competition.
The 22-time Irish champions saw their chances of progressing to the next round suffer a mortal blow last week after slumping to a 3-1 defeat to Breidablik, in Iceland.
Coach Bradley admitted that last week’s defeat was a bitter disappointment for the club, but since then, the players have put full focus on the clash against Ħamrun Spartans.
“Last week was a disappointing result for us, but we had to move on and focus on our next match,” Bradley said
“I thought the team had started well against Breidablik, but in reality, it was a bit of a strange match, and unfortunately, the episodes didn’t go our way.
“But now we are fully concentrated on the match against Ħamrun Spartans, where we have a huge opportunity to secure the three points and our first match in this phase of the competition, and that has to be our main goal. We want to end our European campaign on a high.”
Here in Ireland, there are high expectations that Shamrock Rovers can do the job against the Spartans, but Bradley moved quickly to quell any form of complacency or talk that it could be a walk in the park for his team.
“I am expecting a very difficult match against a Ħamrun Spartans side who have done really well on their debut in the League Phase of a UEFA competition,” Bradley said.
“I watched a lot of their matches this season, and I have been really impressed with their level of performance. In all the matches they played, they were never outplayed by their opponents, and to be honest, in some matches they were really unlucky not to win or at least pick up a point.”
Asked what impressed you most about the Spartans’ team, Bradley pointed his finger at the team’s attacking trio.
“They are a very dangerous team when pushing forward, and their front three are more than capable of causing us trouble with their pace and power,” Bradley said.
“We need to give them the respect they deserve, as if we grow complacent, it could be a tough night for us.
“I expect a very tight match, and hopefully we can take our chances and pick up the three points.”
Asked what the main reason behind his team’s failure to pick up enough points to progress to the next round was, he said: “Unfortunately, our standards dropped when compared to last season.
“I think we struggled a bit to live with the demands of playing both domestically and in Europe, and that came back to haunt us. To be fair, there were some minor details in matches that cost us dearly, and we need to improve.
“I am in continuous talk with my technical staff and the board, and we know where we came short and what we need to do, so we are already looking at the future.”
This season, Bradley has allowed several young players to play for the senior team, and he emphasised that he will continue to adopt this philosophy.
“I think we need to be careful when talking about increasing our investment in the squad,” the Shamrock Rovers said.
“We need to show respect to our players, particularly the young ones who have done a good job when they were called upon.
“It’s important to find the right balance when coming to nurturing and developing young talent and bringing in new players. We need to respect the values of our club but at the same time continue to aim higher.”
Bradley will be without two key players this evening as defender Josh Honohan, who earlier this season was called up by Ireland, is set to move to English side Lincoln Town for £500,000 while forward Daniel Madroiu is out as he has suffered a serious knee injury.
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