STEPHEN BRADLEY HAS little sympathy for Bohemians over a controversy that has seen the club issue a media ban.

Earlier this month, the Dalymount Park outfit announced that they would not fulfil any interview requests in protest at the league’s decision to move Shamrock Rovers’ Premier Division game against Drogheda United forward by 24 hours.

Bohemians, who host Waterford in the FAI Cup semi-final on Friday, are unhappy that the Hoops have an extra 24 hours to recover ahead of the Dublin sides’ league meeting on Monday.

But Bradley responded by pointing out that his team have regularly had to play matches with short turnarounds because of their intense European commitments in recent years.

“We’ve been away in Europe on Thursday evenings and qualified and got back down and had to travel to Derry on Sunday morning and play a match,” he said. “Come on, we’ve done this for a long period of time.

“I understand they’re trying to create a siege mentality and all that, but look at what we’ve done for a long period.”

Bradley also suggested dates other than Monday 12 October were offered for the fixture.

“I’m not sure of the exact dates that were offered. We had that conversation some time back. I think this Monday was suggested by them, if I’m not wrong. A few dates were thrown around. But we’ve done this time and time again.

“And again, no complaints; that’s where we are. We’re fighting on all fronts, and that’s what’s happened to us… Yeah, I think it’s a bit of a daft one.” 

A pivotal fixture in the Premier Division title race, the Drogheda match that caused this issue takes place tonight. Rovers are third in the table, but level on points with St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohs, with at least a draw required to regain top spot in what is a game in hand on their rivals.

Naj Razi has picked up an injury while on Ireland U21 duty and is doubtful for the encounter, as are Enda Stevens and Lee Grace.

Danny Mandroiu has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, while Danny Grant is awaiting a specialist’s advice on an injury, and highly rated 17-year-old Arsenal-bound starlet Victor Ozhianvuna is also still unavailable.

“Victor was back at Arsenal just before the break, progressing really well. They’ve asked us to hold off until next week. It’s just growth.

“He’s put on 88kgs of lean muscle, and he’s grown with that. Played games, obviously. It’s just really protecting him long-term. Normally I’d imagine you would have dipped him back in and out the last couple of months, but the relationship that we have with Arsenal, it’s been pretty good; we’ve all agreed that this was the best path for him.

“Hopefully, we’ll have him available for the last few games, but we won’t know that until next week.

“We’ve most definitely missed him. If you look around Europe, what’s been missing? Obviously, we’ve been down with Rory [Gaffney], John McGovern, and Jonathan [Afolabi] only in terms of trying to get there. Up top in the pitch and in midfield, we’ve missed Victor, Naj [Razi] and Cian [Barrett] – throughout the year, they have given us a different dimension in there.”