BURNS EARNS SWIFT PRAISE
STEPHEN BRADLEY has hailed new arrival Darragh Burns after his man of the match display earned Shamrock Rovers a last-gasp point against Derry City on Monday night.
Burns scored the opener and then provided a pin-point cross for Markus Poom to head home an injury-time equaliser.
He arrived at Tallaght Stadium on a season-long loan deal from MK Dons.
And Bradley said: “He was outstanding, the best player on the pitch by a country mile.
“He’s come in as a winger and we’ve tried to adapt him into a slightly different role. He gave their left-back a really difficult night and he’s a good player.
“I’m delighted that he scored. He’ll get better the fitter and stronger he gets, the more he understands our system.”
But Bradley was frustrated by his side’s inability to capitalise on their lead.
“I thought some of our play on that pitch in difficult conditions was really good. It’s just frustrating that we came off it. We can’t do that, we’ve got to stay hungry and be ruthless,” he said.
Rovers are currently second from bottom with two points from their opening three games, while Damien Duff’s Shelbourne are on top with 10 points from four.
Asked if Shels were more than the sum of their parts, Bradley replied: “I don’t know. We’ll see. What are we? Three, four game in.
“We’ll see come the end of the season but right now you’ll give them the respect for where they are in the league.
“You can only judge on what’s in front of you. They’re in a really strong position. Well done to them but we’ve 30-odd games to go.”