Bradley frustrated not to secure European victory

Shamrock Rovers secured a well-deserved point against Djurgardens, however, Stephen Bradley wanted all three, as the Hoops manager felt that his side's play merited a victory in the Europa Conference League group stages.

Had the home side taken all the points against their esteemed Swedish opponents, Rovers would be sitting pretty atop Group F after the opening night of the latest phase of the tournament.

But as things stand, all four sides move into round two with one point apiece with none of the quartet able to break the deadlock, as Molde and Gent also ended scoreless in the group’s other game.

Playing in European group stage football for the first time since 2011, Rovers looked a touch off the pace in the opening ten minutes and were forced to absorb a lot more pressure than they would have hoped, with Sean Hoare to thank for making a vital goal-line clearance after five minutes of play.

But from there, the Hoops grew into the game and finished the half in the ascendancy, following it up after the break with a sustained period of pressure inside the final third of the visitors’ half, unfortunate not to break the deadline as Aaron Greene and Dylan Watts both came close to scoring.

Djurgardens, to their credit, also had their moments, most notably in the final 20 minutes of the game after their coach made a remarkable quadruple substitution to shake his side out of their slumber.

"We are frustrated that we haven’t won the game," said Bradley, speaking at the post-match press conference.

"Overall, we’re happy. There were certain areas we can improve for sure, but I felt we had the better chances in the game and overall, I thought we were very good."

The manager acknowledged that his side did not get off to the best of starts,