Stephen Bradley 'doesn't mind' how Conference League draw goes but revels in exciting time for club

Stephen Bradley said he didn't mind who Shamrock Rovers were drawn with in Friday's Conference League draw in Monaco, describing it as an "exciting time" for the club.

As expected, Rovers' Europa League campaign ended with a 2-0 loss at home to PAOK, the Greek champions winning 6-0 on aggregate.

Bradley conceded in a round of interviews on Wednesday that the tie was effectively beyond his side after a 4-0 defeat in Thessaloniki last week and, in light of the looming heavy schedule of league games, beginning with the trip to Bohemians on Sunday, rotated his side heavily for Thursday's game.

The Shamrock Rovers' manager made eight changes to the side, mindful of the need to give game-time to several players before the closing stretch of the Premier Division campaign and the subsequent Conference League journey.

"It was a bit of everything," Bradley told RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue after the game. "We have players that we're trying to get up to speed. We're trying to get them minutes. We know everyone is going to be important between now and the end of the season.

"We have Sean Kavanagh, Cory (O'Sullivan), Richie (Towell), Jack (Byrne), Marc (McNulty), Aaron Mc(Eneff), you've a lot of players there that haven't played.

"I thought Jack looked like he was getting back to himself tonight. Played at a good tempo, worked really hard.

"It's about trying to get them up to speed. We've a lot of big games coming up between now and Christmas and it's about trying to get everybody up to a level."

Rovers kept their much-vaunted visitors scoreless for an hour, goalkeeper Leon Pohls rescuing them on several occasions. However, a loose pass out of defence set in chain a move which ended with Magomed Ozdoev passing into a gaping net, after Pohls