Gary O'Neill reckons Shamrock Rovers can thrive in a stress free environment on the European stage.
The Hoops go into their second Europa Conference League group stage clash tomorrow night when they face Gent in Belgium.
And having opened their account with a point at home to Djurgardens last week, midfield ace O’Neill believes Rovers are getting their feet under the table.
The thrill of the do-or-die qualifying rounds may be lacking in these early rounds, but the Hoops wants to steadily raise the temperature over the campaign.
O’Neill said: “It's just excitement, to be honest with you. I’m in a room with Ronan Finn and we were talking about it.
“It's a bit of a more relaxed feel this time around when it's not qualifying for the Europa League.
“But it’s a league and we want to be competitive - and we showed against Djurgardens last week that we will be competitive in this group.
“It's not something I want to come into and say 'it's a bonus’ - we want to be really competitive.”
The Hoops boast an impressive unbeaten record at home in Europe after wins over Hibernians, Ludogorets, Shkupi and Ferencvaros and a draw with Djurgardens.
But their away form can be called into question after 3-0 and 4-0 defeats at Ludogorets and Ferencvaros respectively.
Gent will be formidable opponents although their 20,000-seater stadium will only be half full on the night.
O’Neill said: “Our home form has been really good over the last 12 months whether that be in the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and domestically.
“It has been brilliant. Our away form has gone against us in Europe but it's not something that we are too worried about.
“In Bulgaria, they were very good individual players whereas last week against Djurgardens as individually good as they were, it was more of a structure and a team.
“Every game has been different. You play against different players and structures every week so it's maybe a step up but it’s something we're enjoying.”
Hoops boss Stephen Bradley feels this group stage campaign has to be a sign of things to come for the league champions.
Their last experience of European group action was back in 2011 andBradley said: “That was a long time ago and we don’t want it to be the case again.
“We want this to become regular for this club and we want to keep building and make the club bigger and stronger and everyone is working extremely hard to do so.
“We’re on the right path but we need to keep working to make sure this is a regular occurrence for us and we’re playing in stadiums like this in games like this every year.”
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