Rory Gaffney: Hoops need to put group dreams to back of minds and finish the job

Rory Gaffney has warned that Shamrock Rovers can't allow themselves to be distracted by the prospect of group stage football ahead of their Europa League second leg clash in North Macedonia.

The Irish champions lead Shkupi 3-1 on aggregate after their win in Tallaght and another win on Tuesday would earn a play-off tilt for the Europa League group rounds and a guaranteed place in the equivalent stage of the Conference League.

"I’d love the opportunity to have a crack at the group stages," said the Rovers striker.

"But we’re not really looking past tomorrow night.

"We saw how dangerous they were last week in the second half and we know if we don’t turn up, we could easily pay the price.

"If you [only] watched the second half you would have said they were the better team, but thankfully Gary O’Neill produced a bit of magic at the end and it gives us a little bit of a cushion.

"The performance has to be better and if we do improve on our performance last week I can’t see us losing the game by more than two goals."

Rovers were the first League of Ireland club to reach the group stages of the Europa League in 2011-12 and only Dundalk, six years ago, have emulated that feat.

Gaffney believes the addition of a third European competition has offered fresh opportunities for Irish clubs.

"If we win tomorrow. we would have the safety net for next week," he said. "It just takes the pressure off us.

"Obviously you want to go as far as you can in the Champions League and the same with the Europa League but this new competition does give clubs like Shamrock Rovers an extra opportunity to have a European adventure.

"When I was in England, my main goal was probably to get another contract. More often than not the teams I was with were mid-table