Shamrock Rovers 'have a chance' despite Ludogorets' pedigree

Having negotiated the Champions League first qualifying round with relative comfort after a 3-0 aggregate win over Hibernians of Malta, the next step for Shamrock Rovers is a tough task against Bulgarian champions Ludogorets.

Tonight, live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player, the Hoops are away in the city of Razgrad, where they will hope to keep themselves in the tie ahead of next week's second leg at Tallaght Stadium.

A potential tie against Croatia's dominant record champions Dinamo Zagreb or North Macedonian outfit Shkupi awaits the winners.

But Stephen Bradley and his side won't be thinking that far ahead yet given Ludogorets' Champions League pedigree and quality as ex-St Patrick's Athletic and Shelbourne midfielder Conan Byrne outlined on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

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Keith Treacy and Conan Byrne joined Raf Diallo and Rob Wright this week to talk Ireland players on the move, European games for Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers and St Pat's and the Women's Euro 2022 knockout stage.

"They've started back their league campaign recently over the last couple of weeks and got off to a 3-0 away win and a 2-0 home win," he said of the Bulgarian side who have won the last 11 league titles on the trot as well as often reaching the group stages of the Champions League or Europa League during that span.

"They score a lot of goals and they don't concede many so that's going to be an interesting scenario now for Shamrock Rovers coming into the game.

"They'll have to be on the lookout for the Cypriot international