'We don't that in the Leinster Senior Cup' - Bradley frustrated by Hoops' naivety

Stephen Bradley lamented his side's "poor" first-half display and their "naivety" in the closing stages in their 3-0 Champions League loss away to Ludogorets, which has left them with a borderline impossible task in next week's second leg in Tallaght.

The back-to-back Premier Division champions, who comfortably overcame Malta's Hibernians in the first qualifying round, were thoroughly out-classed by the Bulgarian kingpins in the first half, Pieros Sotiriou scoring a brace as things looked grim for the visitors.

However, the Hoops rallied impressively in a solid second-half display, spending much of the closing stages on the front foot pushing for a late goal to narrow the deficit before the return fixture in Dublin.

A late sucker punch, arriving after sloppy Rovers passing in their third, saw their chances of progression in the Champions League dim to a significant degree, substitute Igor Thiago firing home at the death to leave the margin at three.

Bradley, while acknowledging his side's improved display in the second period, admitted the third goal had made advancement "an almost impossible challenge."

"I thought first half we were poor and they were very good. The second half we were good with one or two good chances and we were playing some good football," Bradley told reporters afterwards.

"The third goal we have given away is really, really poor from our point of view and really naive. It makes it an almost impossible challenge.

"Second half was a big improvement and we knew we had the second leg to come in Tallaght and it's 2-0. You take that and say we can make a right game of it in Tallaght.

"There were so many positives from the second half to take into next week. So when you gave away a goal last minute by playing