Stephen Bradley: Jack Byrne will only get better and stronger

With only a few competitive games under his belt in the last year, Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley is already seeing the sharpness return to Jack Byrne's play, with the midfielder starring in the Hoops' win over Drogheda United on Monday evening.

The Premier Division champions, after their loss in Derry on Friday last, got back on track with a 3-1 victory at Tallaght Stadium.

Byrne assisted Sean Gannon's opener and scored an incredible second during a man-of-the-match performance in front of a 4,100 strong crowd.

Drogheda attempted to stage a late fightback, scoring through Evan Weir but Graham Burke extinguished any travelling hopes with his composed finish in the 82nd minute.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Stephen Bradley hailed the contribution of the Republic of Ireland international and explained why he called him ashore just before the hour mark.

"You can see that with every game he plays he starting to sharpen up in his head. He's sees things very, very early. He'll only get better and stronger. This is only his third or fourth competitive game in a year.

"His goal was a fantastic strike, got right behind it.

"We have to be careful with him. He got a knock in Derry so we were thinking about not starting him. At 2-0 I felt it was time to get him out."

@Jackb_8, stop it!