Stephen Bradley hit out at a lack of respect towards Shamrock Rovers, who put their European home record on the line tonight.
The Hoops have not lost a game in any competition at Tallaght Stadium since going down to Flora Tallinn of Estonia in August 2021.
That’s an impressive 31-game run but in Europe this summer, both Ferencvaros and Ludogorets came here with 4-0 and 3-0 aggregate leads.
Rovers deservedly won both games - 1-0 and 2-1 respectively - but Bradley is aware of the snipers who say the Hungarians and Bulgarians were not at their best as they already had the job done.
Bradley was asked if the record was diluted somewhat by those big leads, but pointing to the opening group game (0-0) of this campaign, he said: “Djurgardens didn’t (have a lead).
“I think people on the outside will always look for some angle. It’s our job to analyse every aspect of it both home and away.
“I could name a number of teams who didn’t come here with that lead throughout the year, so I think that’s a bit disrespectful to the team, to be honest.”
Bradley continued: “People are going to react to this club all the time. When you’re at the top, that’s what happens and that’s fine - you have to expect it.
“It’s because of where we are. We’re quite comfortable as a group and as a club and where we’re going.
“People will always have an opinion and we have to expect and accept that.
“But I think any team that’s unbeaten at home in 14 months will say that they fancy playing anyone at home and we’re no different.
“We’re not naive enough to think Molde have become a bad team overnight - they beat us and were quite comfortable last week and then won 5-0 at the weekend.
“They’re 15-points clear in the league and it’s all but done. They’re a very good side and we know that, but we believe if we perform to our levels that we can beat anybody.”
Some Rovers fans were critical of Bradley for resting key men like Jack Byrne, Graham Burke, Rory Gaffney and Dylan Watts in Molde.
The Hoops never laid a glove on the Norwegian aces in a 3-0 defeat as they prioritised Sunday’s key league clash with Shels - which they won at the death.
But although Rovers prop up this group with a point from three games, Bradley insists his team still have a say at the halfway stage.
“If we win our next two games it’s all to play for going to Djurgardens,” he said. “But we have to take care of a difficult game tonight and against Gent.
“Both away games we lost quite comfortably, so we know we have to go some if we want to win them but the group is very tight.”
Chris McCann and Simon Power will miss out with injuries. Andy Lyons is a doubt but Aidomo Emaku is making good progress from an ankle injury.
“Aidomo is fine and did some running today,” said Bradley. “We got him x-rayed having gone over on his ankle. We were worried there may be something broken, but he’s OK.”
Lee Grace and Sean Gannon came off at half-time against Shels but have the all clear to feature in tonight’s squad.
Meanwhile, Roberto Lopes insists Shamrock Rovers can still push for the knockout stages.
The Hoops are bottom of Group F at the halfway stage in this Europa Conference League campaign.
Djurgardens are setting the pace but top and bottom are only separated by six points, with Molde and Gent just three points ahead of Rovers.
Defensive rock Lopes is back in action after missing 17 matches because of a medial knee ligament injury.
He made his return off the bench in Molde last week and followed up with another substitute appearance at half-time against Shelbourne on Sunday.
Tonight, the Cape Verde international is hoping to make his first Rovers start since July 23 when he faces the Norwegian champions elect.
Lopes said: “Once the draw was made, we felt it was going to be a tough group and the results to date have shown that.
“But we feel that if we use our home form to our advantage we can get two wins here in the next two games and then make a statement in the group.”
Rovers host Belgian giants Gent in a fortnight before closing out the campaign with a trip to Stockholm to face Djurgardens, who they drew 0-0 in the opening game.
“They are special nights,” added Lopes when asked about European games in Tallaght.
“You can feel it in the air.
“The fans come out in their droves and create such an electric atmosphere here in Tallaght. It’s intimidating for any side. As a player you want to rise to the occasion.
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