Bradley: Title will go down to the wire!

STEPHEN Bradley predicts the Premier Division title race will go down to the last game but is backing his side’s experience to prevail.

Bradley’s Shamrock Rovers remain on course to complete the three-ina-row after Monday’s 1-0 home victory over UCD, with Neil Farrugia finding the net.

The win moved the Hoops back into a fivepoint lead over Derry City, but with four European Conference League group games over the next six weeks — plus a home tie against the Candystripes in the penultimate round of league fixtures — the Rovers boss is expecting the fight for the trophy to go to the wire.

“It looks like it’s going to be tight and that it’s going to go down to the last game, and if it does, it does,” said Bradley.

“We’ve been here before, we know what it’s about and just focus on what we have to do and keep picking up points, and let’s see where that takes us.

“You could see it at Shels and again on Monday, two important games and we came out with four points.

“So I think that shows that even in this run of games, the players have it in them to go and pick up points and that’s knowhow and years of doing it together.”

Tough

Rovers travel to

Norway to face Molde tomorrow week but first visit Sligo Rovers on Saturday.

“Yeah, tough game, always a tough place to go,” Bradley commented. “But we know we’re at the business end and we know three points will be really important, so we’ll go there with the full aim of winning.”

And the Hoops will be bolstered by the return of Andy Lyons and

Justin from underage international duty, while centre-backs Roberto Lopes and Sean Hoare are fit again.

Recent signing Simon Power is under a fortnight away from a return.

“Sean and Pico

(Lopes) are such big players for us,” he said. “Jack (Byrne) and Graham (Burke), last Thursday was their first sort of real minutes and they were back in the side on Monday.

“So we’re getting players going at the right time, which is great.”

Bradley is not worried with Rovers’ return of two goals from the last four games, as his side are creating chances.

“It felt tense in the end when it wasn’t that game,” he assessed.

“If we had taken one of those six really good chances, like we normally do, it puts a different perspective on the performance.”