Graham Burke says Shamrock Rovers have tunnel vision in their pursuit of European group stage football.
And the Hoops ace insists Rovers not only proved they are good enough to qualify, but that they can do damage at that level too.
Rovers went down swinging in the Champions League after beating Ludogorets 2-1 in Tallaght on Tuesday, but losing 4-2 on aggregate.
They were written off after a 3-0 first-leg defeat in Bulgaria last week, but brought the fight to their shell-shocked opponents who are group stages regulars.
And Burke, who was the standout performer, feels the League of Ireland champions’ European adventure is only starting.
Rovers host Shkupi of North Macedonia in the Europa League third qualifying round next Thursday before meeting them away the following Tuesday.
And progressing through that round will, at the very least, secure a group stage adventure in the Europa Conference League if necessary.
That would be a considerable achievement, but first they want to go as deep as possible in the more illustrious Europa League proper.
Burke, capped three times for Ireland under Martin O’Neill, said: “I think it would be disappointing (not to make the group stages).
“Everyone playing in Europe would want to get in the group stages and this is the ambition of this football club.
“This is obviously the biggest football club in Ireland and it has aspirations to play group stage football.
“And I think we have the squad to do it and it’s just up to us as a squad to get the job done.”
Burke continued: “This is a squad that deserves group stages and one I think has the ability to play group stage football.
“But we just have to keep going and put in performances like we did against Ludogorets on Tuesday.
“They have been in the group stages so many times and for us to put in that performance should give us confidence going forward.”
Burke admits it was frustrating that Rovers left themselves with such a mountain to climb after the defeat in Bulgaria.
But he is taking great heart from Tuesday’s performance at a rocking Tallaght Stadium as the Hoops now know what is required to prolong their European stay.
Burke, 28, said: “Listen, if you play like that and get the goals, it gives you great hope. And we can take great hope going into the next round.
“We know our opposition but we’re focused on Friday (against Bangor Celtic in the FAI Cup) first and then we’ll go into next week preparing for Europe.
“We have to take Tuesday’s performance into that (Shkupi) game and stay true to ourselves and know that performance is in us.”
But Burke insists it was no fluke that Rovers threw the kitchen sink at Ludogorets as they did as they were determined to give a true account of themselves after Bulgaria.
He continued: “You’re going into a game 3-0 down and all you can do is put your best foot forward and what will be will be.
“We just wanted to have a crack at it. Obviously we had a great start going 1-0 up, we had the momentum and I thought we played really really well.
“Then we went 2-0 but conceding was a big blow. Listen, we’re proud of what we’ve done because that’s a top side we were playing against.
“To win the game was a great achievement for us. But it’s a bit disappointing because at one stage, I thought we had a hope of achieving something great.”
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