STEPHEN BRADLEY IS relishing this afternoon’s Uefa Conference League draw as he eyes another bit of history with Shamrock Rovers.

The Hoops boss has targeted eclipsing the four points earned by Dundalk when they reached the group stages of the Europa League in 2016.

No League of Ireland club has managed more than that, with Rovers featuring in the Europa League in 2011 as well as this new third-tier competition in 2022, while Dundalk qualified for the Europa League again in 2020.

The new 36-team format this season means Rovers will be guaranteed six games against six different opponents – three at home and three away – and could reach the last 16 if they secure a top-eight finish.

The draw for the @europacnfleague takes place today as Shamrock Rovers find out their opponents.

Find out who they can face and how the draw works here for the new format - https://t.co/RC28kmZfgZ#LOI | @ShamrockRovers pic.twitter.com/tgi90y2mVa

— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) August 30, 2024

There will be a play-off round for those clubs ranked ninth to 24th while the remainder are eliminated.

The six pots (listed below) have been confirmed by Uefa ahead of the draw at 1.30pm today. Rovers are in pot four and it will be tomorrow that the fixtures will be confirmed.

“I like the look of it,” Bradley said of the format. “It gives everyone a chance and I like the way the seedings are going to be in terms of who you can get, pots and stuff, so yeah it looks good. Hopefully it can be kind to us and then it’s just about finding out home and away and when and working out the schedule. But this is what we want, an exciting time in the group stage of European football. It’s going to be exciting to see who we get.

“You don’t know until it plays out but looking at it that could be the case and that’s the aim to attack the games. Unless something drastic happens in the next month, the squad is in a healthy place. Johnny [Kenny] is just back and Rory’s [Gaffney] op went well. We’re getting there in terms of bodies so the plan will be to attack games and try and win games and put ourselves in the mix.

“I understand people that probably don’t come every week would like the biggest of the names, but I really don’t care. I want games we can win. I’m not sure of the points, is it four points the record? I think we have to be looking to beat that.

“We spoke about it last time but I don’t think we were in a position to. I think we are in a position to do it now and that has to be the aim. If we do that, you put yourself in with a chance of going to a play-off. That’s the aim. We’ll see what we get and hopefully the draw is kind to us.”

Uefa Conference League – League phase draw pots

Pot 1

• Chelsea (ENG)
• Copenhagen (DEN)
• Gent (BEL)
• Fiorentina (ITA)
• LASK (AUT)
• Real Betis (ESP)

Pot 2

• Başakşehir (TUR)
• Molde (NOR)
• Legia Warszawa (POL)
• Heidenheim (GER)
• Djurgården (SWE)
• APOEL (CYP)

Pot 3

• SK Rapid (AUT)
• Omonoia (CYP)
• Helsinki (FIN)
• Vitória SC (POR)
• Astana (KAZ)
• Olimpija (SVN)

Pot 4

• Cercle Brugge (BEL)
• Shamrock Rovers (IRL)
• The New Saints (WAL)
• Lugano (SUI)
• Hearts (SCO)
• Mladá Boleslav (CZE)

Pot 5

• Petrocub (MDA)
• St. Gallen (SUI)
• Panathinaikos (GRE)
• TSC (SRB)
• Borac (BIH)
• Jagiellonia (POL)

Pot 6

• Celje (SVN)
• Larne (NIR)
• Dinamo-Minsk (BLR)
• Pafos (CYP)
• Víkingur (ISL)
• Noah (ARM)