Preview: LOI trio begin Europa Conference League second-round ties

Three League of Ireland Premier Division sides begin their second-round ties in the Europa Conference League tonight.

Shamrock Rovers did not expect to be at this stage of the Conference League, and most certainly not to back in Hungary against a Ferencvaros side humiliated 3-0 at home by Klaksvik of the Faroe Islands last week.

Derry City are delighted to be back back in the Brandywell as Finnish league leader KUPS visit.

Dundalk are seeded in round two thanks to their previous exploits.

An Icelandic side have already claimed an Irish scalp this year with Breidablik knocking out the champions and though KA Akureyri are not having as successful a season they will pose the Lilywhites a challenge this evening.

To qualify for the group stages the Irish teams will have to battle through four qualifying rounds altogether.

Ferencvaros v Shamrock Rovers, Groupama Arena, 6pm

The Irish champions are looking tov bounce from their disappointing Champions League exit to Breidablik.

These two sides met in last year's Europa League with Ferencvaros progressing thanks to a 4-1 aggregate victory, while Rovers ended up making it through to the group stages of the Conference League.

Ferencvaros proved too much for the Hoops in the home leg of that game 12 months ago, however, Bradley’s side took the game to them in the return leg at Tallaght Stadium, and while the could not overturn the 4-0 first leg result, they did manage to beat the Hungarian side in the second leg.

The Budapest outfit went on to record wins over Trabzonspor, Monaco and Red Star Belgrade in their group before being eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen.

Bradley admitted that his side would offer a strong element of caution for the first leg, with one eye on the second leg and