A STRAIGHT QUESTION gets a straight answer.

“What do you do next week?” Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley was asked after his side’s emphatic 3-0 first-leg victory over Hibernians last night.

“We go to win it” he replied, looking ahead to the return tie in Malta on Tuesday which, barring a disaster, should see the Hoops secure safe passage to the second qualifying round of the Champions League.

Ludogorets will most likely be waiting as they take a healthy 2-0 lead into the second leg of their first-round tie with FK Sutjeska Nikšić of Montenegro.

The Bulgarian giants’ calibre is clear to see. They have been involved in the group stages of European competition in every season stretching back to 2013/14.

Defeat to Valencia in the last 16 of that campaign eight years ago was followed by back-to-back Champions League group stage appearances.

In the five years since they have been Europa League regulars, but Bradley insists his focus has not shifted to what could lie in wait.

“No, I can’t, I genuinely can’t. I think you seen second half [last night] that Hibernians can be dangerous. Do we fancy ourselves to go and win the game? Of course we do. We think we can go and improve again.

Rovers boss Stephen Bradley. Evan Treacy / INPHO Evan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

“Go to win the game. But we’ve got to make sure we respect them. I’ll let the people above me at the club look at other things. But for us, it’s focused on next week.”

With Jack Byrne and Graham Burke both absent because of injury, and Danny Mandroiu also on the treatment table but on the verge of a move to English League One side Lincoln City, Rovers’ squad depth has come to the fore.

Midfielder Dylan Watts, scorer of the second goal, came in for particular praise from his manager as he hailed the 25-year-old’s understanding of his role.

“The ones that have stepped up the last while were brilliant, I thought Dylan – I know Rory [Gaffney] got man of the match and deservedly so – but I thought Dylan was on a different level.

“I thought some of the stuff, some of his touches, some of his positional play was really high level, really good.

“That performance from Dylan is right up there with one of the best you’ll see in terms of how clever he was, how quick he was, his end product, his all round game.

“And he’s been like for quite some time, he’s matured. He was outstanding.”

On the opposite end of the experience spectrum is skipper Ronan Finn, whose first goal in European football came on the occasion of his 48th appearance in continental action for a League of Ireland club.

The former Sporting Fingal and Dundalk midfielder made his bow over a decade ago and is now just six shy of the league’s appearance record in Europe.

Retired goalkeeper Gary Rogers currently holds it with 54, but should Rovers reach the second qualifying round of the Champions League that will guarantee at least two more rounds of European football.

There are parachutes into the Europa League third round and then Conference League play-off depending on results, meaning Rovers would have a minimum of five more games in a worst case scenario.

Should Finn stay fit and keep his place that would take him above Rogers.

“An incredible achievement if he goes and does it,” Bradley said. “All going well, he’ll do it this year. But it’s a testament to how he lives his life. He’s put his ego to the side when he’s come and said I can play right wing back.

“Someone with his experience and knowhow and what he has won in the game could have easily thrown his toys out a few years back.

“But we sat down and had a conversation and he puts all that to the side and focuses on playing and being better for the team. He’s been a brilliant captain, a brilliant leader, and I really hope he goes and breaks the record.”