THE PROSPECT OF Jack Byrne featuring for Shamrock Rovers against Shkupi of North Macedonia in the Europe League qualifiers tomorrow night is rated as 50-50 by manager Stephen Bradley.
Byrne has played just 20 minutes of football since 23 May, appearing as a substitute in Rovers’ 0-0 draw away to Hibernians in the Champions League qualifiers. Byrne has been sidelined with a hip flexor issue since, and his involvement tomorrow night hinges on his coming through training today without any issue.
“It will be 50-50 on Jack”, said Bradley. “I wouldn’t say you’ll see him starting. If he comes through today, he’ll be involved, but only if he comes through today. Again, if he’s feeling it or slightly in doubt he won’t be involved. We’ll see how today goes.”
New signing Simon Power is likely to miss out with a knock, while Roberto Lopes will remain sidelined for another seven weeks with a knee injury. The rest of the squad are fit to feature against the champions of North Macedonia tomorrow night in a tie with a couple of prizes on offer.
The winners will progress to the playoff round of the Europa League, and will face the losers of the Champions League qualifier between Qarabag and Ferencvaros. The winner of that tie will progress to the group phase of the Europa League, but the losers will be parachuted into the group phase of the third-tier Conference League.
A win against Shkupi, therefore, would guarantee group stage football for Rovers. Should they lose, they will drop into a playoff for the Conference League group phase against the the champions of either Kosovo or the Faroe Islands.
Shkupi beat Lincoln Red Imps in the opening round of Champions League qualifying – winning the first leg 3-0 before losing the second leg 2-0 – and then lost to Dinamo Zagreb 3-2 on aggregate, having drawn 2-2 away from home in the first leg.
“When you watch them away to Dinamo they should have won the game and when you watch them at home to Dinamo they should have lost it by more than they did. It’s a really interesting one”, said Bradley of Rovers’ next opponents.
“Very similar against Lincoln, away they were poor and at home they won the game 3-0. But anyone who can run Dinamo close – I think we saw Dinamo’s quality yesterday against Ludogorets – shows they’ve got real threats we’ve got to respect. Their front four are very similar to Ludogorets in terms of pace and power.”