'We are nearly there' - Stephen Bradley sees his team move to within two wins of the title

Macdara Ferris reports from Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers are just two victories from securing their 18^th league title.

24 hours after Dundalk made it through to the group stages of the Europa League via the Champions route, the Hoops secured a 4-0 win over Sligo Rovers to move 11 points clear at the top of the table and are on the verge of becoming League of Ireland champions. 

Hoops Head Coach Stephen Bradley noted that “we are nearly there. Hopefully another win or two will do it for us.”

Waterford’s defeat in Derry earlier in the evening made European football mathematically secure for next season for Rovers – their seventh European campaign in a row - and shows the progress that the Hoops have made under Stephen Bradley. He is looking for that to continue so they can match what the Lilywhites have done this week in Europe.

“When I came in we were fighting for fourth place (in 2016) and hoping someone would win the cup for us to get into Europe. Every year we’ve said we didn’t want to be near that, we want to go again in Europe every year. We have improved and now we are on the cusp of winning it (the league). We just need another win or two. 

“We know how it is important to win the league because of the draw in Europe. You can get a really kind draw and that is helpful so we know how important it is to get over the line.

“Dundalk fully deserved it. They can only beat what is put in front of them. It is important Irish clubs do well in Europe. What people have to understand though is that what other clubs do in Europe doesn’t affect us. We have our own plan and we stick to it.

"We are only getting started. Hopefully we can get this league done. Fair play to Dundalk they’ve got to the group stages well done congratulations but it doesn’t affect us.”

Next up for the Hoops is an away game in Finn Park but that match is likely to be postponed with Jack Byrne and Pico Lopes receiving senior international call ups for the Republic of Ireland and Cape Verde respectively, along with Neil Farrugia and Liam Scales in the Ireland under-21 squad.

“More than likely that game will be off,” said Bradley when asked by extratime.com about the status of that fixture. “We will request it to be off as we have four players called up plus two more on stand-by for the under21s so it might be six players (on international duty). 

“If it was one or two we would play no problem like last year but six is too much,” said Bradley when speaking about his team’s 1-0 win away to Finn Harps in March 2019.

Rovers didn’t seek a postponement then even though Jack Byrne had a senior call up alongside under-21 call ups for Trevor Clarke and Brandon Kavanagh. “I’m nearly sure we’ll request it off.”

Lopes may not travel for that international training camp and friendly in Andorra with Cape Verde as he hasn’t recovered from an injury he picked up in the 6-1 win over Waterford last week.

“It looks like he might struggle to travel but we will give it till Monday before we make that decision. He has worked hard for the call up so if he is able to play we will allow him.” 

League Report: Shamrock Rovers 4 - 0 Sligo Rovers https://t.co/6R2m9oQc4Spic.twitter.com/SfceoNjTUF

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) October 2, 2020