KF Shkupi tie offers Shamrock Rovers 'huge opportunity' - Conan Byrne

Shamrock Rovers' tie against North Macedonia's KF Shkupi offers the most realistic prospect of an Irish side coming out on top according to former St Patrick's Athletic league winner Conan Byrne.

The Hoops exited the Champions League after losing to Ludogorets 4-2 on aggregate last week but enter the Europa League at the third qualifying round stage where they meet Shkupi for a place in the play-off round.

Should Stephen Bradley's side overcome the Macedonian champions, they will be one step away from reaching the lucrative Europa League group stages for the second time in Shamrock Rovers' history and fourth time overall for an SSE Airtricity League club.

But they will also know that a play-off round defeat in that competition would still guarantee group stage qualification to UEFA's third competition, the Europa Conference League, while a loss to Shkupi would still enable them the fall-back of a play-off round in the latter competition.

Sligo Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic impressed in reaching the Conference League third qualifying round but face tough tasks against Viking and CSKA Sofia respectively - the latter live on the RTÉ News Channel and RTÉ Player from 5.55pm on Thursday - and Byrne believes it's Shamrock Rovers who have the best chance of the three clubs against their direct opponents.

"It's a huge opportunity for Shamrock Rovers and I think out of the three sides this is the one we have a realistic aim of getting into the next round with," he told this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast ahead of Thursday's first leg at Tallaght Stadium.

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