Stephen Bradley lambasts SSE Airtricity League for not pushing Derry City game back

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley felt a point at Derry City on Friday was a satisfactory result in the midst of a hectic week for his side but felt the SSE Airtricity League authorities showed "zero leadership" in not pushing the game back by 24 hours.

The SSE Airtricity League leaders were in North Macedonia on Tuesday where a second-leg win over KF Shkupi saw them qualify for the Europa League play-off round and simultaneously guarantee themselves a passage to the Europa Conference League group stages.

Bradley's team will take on Hungary's Ferencvaros in Budapest on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League play-off round tie (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).

Amid a packed schedule, the Rovers manager had confirmed midweek that the club had sought to push the Derry game back by a day or two, only to have that request turned down by the league - a decision he described as "poor from the league" and "not good enough" after watching his side draw 0-0 with the Candystripes on Friday night.

"We're talking about promoting Irish football and wanting our teams to do well and we have to understand it benefits everyone in the long run," said Bradley.

"We didn't want [the game] off. We just wanted it moved 24 hours like is normal in every country in the world when you have two away European games.

"For some reason the league saw fit not to help us and I think that's really, really poor from the league and the people making the decisions and it needs to be looked at."

Bradley added that "the league need to step in make a call there and they've shown zero leadership there in my opinion".

The goalless draw at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium means Shamrock Rovers remain four points plus a game in hand clear of Dundalk at the