Ronan Funn feels Shamrock Rovers’ European adventure could only be starting despite bowing out of the Champions League.
The Hoops beat Ludogorets 2-1 in a thrilling clash at Tallaght Stadium, but lost 4-2 on aggregate and will now play Shkupi of Macedonia in the Europa League next week.
And progress through that third round clash will guarantee at least a group stage run in the Europa Conference League.
But Roberto Lopes will miss a good chunk of that run after scan results revealed he damaged medial ligaments in Saturday’s draw with Drogheda.
And Rovers boss Stephen Bradley confirmed that Lopes will be sidelined for the next two months.
But of the Ludogorets clash, captain Finn said: “The plan was to get one goal and we did, and then it was to reassess to get two goals and eventually we did.
“All of a sudden you start to believe when it’s 2-0 and it's taken away from you and that's the ultimate blow.
“They have won the Bulgarian league for 11 years running and their budget is through the roof so we're talking about another moral victory.
“But we wanted to win the game and we did that. That was important.”
Finn continued: “I thought the game was tough last week, they dominated the ball and possession.
“And for 35 minutes we couldn't get to grips with them and were 2-0 down by the time we did.
“We had a better shape about us today and we caused them problems. You look at 2-0 with two minutes to go and we were punishing them, but they took that late chance.
“They are in the group stages every year for a reason.
“They had a man sent off but we probably didn't do enough when they were down to 10-men and they nearly became more dangerous as they hit us on the counter.”
Finn continued: “You see the dressing room and it's disappointing because standards are high and we're not used to losing the last few years.
“Before the game nobody gave us a chance but you never got into a game planning to lose. Now we have the consolation of the Europa League.
“The third round, we know if we go through that tie it's the group stage of Conference minimum. Winning that game against Hiberninans was massive.”
Rovers boss Stephen Bradley said: “I thought we were brilliant, I thought we were excellent. It’s everything you’d want from your team.
“On a night like tonight against that level of opposition, I thought they were brilliant.
“Butg I thought the referee’s decision when Richie was in on goal was a massive decision in the game. I’ve seen it three or four times and it was a foul.
“The fourth official was actually saying it was a foul for us, the linesman was saying it was a foul, but somehow the referee points the other way.
“Richie was in on goal, I don’t see why he’d go down. You need those big decisions to go your way in games. It’s small margins at this level.”
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