Hoops hoping to motor on in home of Skoda
IN MLADA BOLESLAV STEPHEN BRADLEY has no doubts about the ability of his Shamrock Rovers side to score goals away from home in European competition this evening (5pm Irish time).
Whether his side can keep a clean sheet away to Czech outfit Mlada Boleslav is another matter, as the Hoops need to score two and not concede if they are to progress to the third round, and a meeting with opposition from Albania or Azerbaijan.
History is against the Dublin side as Irish clubs have lost out in all of their Euro encounters with Czech opposition, and in 60 years of European competition Rovers have never managed to overturn a first-leg home loss to advance.
But Bradley draws confidence from his side’s ability to find the net.
“It’s massive,” he says of the challenge. “Going away in Europe looking to score two goals and not concede, it’s a massive task.
“But if you look at this team, everywhere we’ve gone we’ve scored, and I still believe we will score today because we create so many chances.
DEFINITELY
“We will definitely get opportunities to score. They’re dangerous going forward, but at the back they’ll definitely give up opportunities. If we score first it changes the whole game. We have to defend better than we did last week, but I believe we can go and score against them.”
Mlada Boleslav, a sleepy town 60km outside of Prague, is not a seething hotbed of football, its main claim to fame is as home to the Skoda car plant, and interest in the tie has yet to peak.
As of last night the club had sold just 700 tickets, costing a recession-busting €6, to home fans with up to 250 Rovers supporters expected, though Mlada Boleslav hope that walk-ups on the night will bring the gate closer to 3,500.
Unlike Rovers, who debuted in Europe in 1957, Mlada Boleslav are relative rookies in UEFA competition, having competed for the first time in 2006 and this is only the eighth Euro campaign in their history.
Rovers are close to full strength, bar Paul Corry and Danny Devine, and boss Bradley may field the same starting XI for the fourth European tie in a row.