Shamrock Rovers face Santa Clara on Thursday night in Tallaght Stadium, in the second leg of the UEFA Conference League Playoffs. Stephen Bradley’s side lead the Portuguese outfit by two goals to one, after an impressive first leg win.
Goals from Danny Grant and Danny Mandroiu saw Shamrock Rovers come from behind in the first-leg, a result that would have surprised many, but for some when this draw was made there was optimism. Outside of Portugal’s big four, Porto, Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and Braga, the level of quality beyond that is on par with the best that Irish football has to offer.
Shamrock Rovers proved this in the first leg, and now, in front of their own fans, they will be hoping to repeat the trick. Tickets for both the South and West stands have sold out, and in a season where the Rovers’ home support has been questioned, it is needed now more than ever. Regarding home support, Bradley said: “Yeah, hopefully we can go and sell it out… we’ve seen with many European nights over the last few years that if we get big crowds in Tallaght and combine that with the players’ performances, we can have some special nights.”
Team News
Connor Malley will be the only Shamrock Rovers player absent due to injury. While Jack Byrne will likely not be involved after a falling out with Stephen Bradley, that has kept him out of the Rovers side since July 18th, an FAI Cup win over Wexford.
Santa Clara will be without centre back Pedro Pacheco who is out with a knee injury.
Key Players
Thursday night will be career defining for Ed McGinty, having been brought in during the winter window, being viewed as an upgrade on the now departed Leon Pohls. Shamrock Rovers will likely be under a lot of pressure, and it will likely take a top class performance from the former Sligo Rovers man to see Rovers advance.
Vinicius Lopes scored Santa Clara’s only goal last week, and the winger was also his clubs top goalscorer last season in Liga Portugal. So far this season they have struggled to score goals, in their last four games they have scored just one goal, that being against Shamrock Rovers last week. They need to find the back of the net at least once to have any hope of qualifying, and who else to look for but their top scorer.
Manager and Player Insight
Stephen Bradley is by no means overlooking Santa Clara, and he is not thinking about the Conference League Stage “Right now no ones thinking of that. We are thinking of the game in front of us, what we have to do to go and win the game and what will be after that will be.”.
Danny Mandroiu has also spoken to the media, reiterating Bradley’s claim that all focus is on Santa Clara “It’s a huge game, we’re only halfway there, we’re ahead but it’s 0-0 at the end of the day, there gonna come out all guns blazing… we’ll see what happens come 90 minutes.”.
Where to Watch: LOITV
Kick Off: Thursday 20:00
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
Betting Odds: Shamrock Rovers @9/4, Draw @2/1, Santa Clara @23/20