Paul Fennessy reports from the Ghelamco Arena in Gent

IT’S TAKEN 11 years for Shamrock Rovers to make their long-awaited return to the group stages of a European competition and Stephen Bradley is determined that the Hoops can build on their progress this time around and become more accustomed to competing at this level.

This current incarnation of Rovers have already bested their 2011 counterparts in one respect. Last week’s creditable 0-0 draw at home to Djurgardens saw them secure their first-ever point in a European group stage. This feat even evaded Michael O’Neill’s trailblazers, who found themselves paired in a tough group with Rubin Kazan, PAOK and Tottenham, with the English side’s simultaneous failure to progress a testament to the intense level of competition that year.

The Irish club will be hoping to make more history tomorrow night, though it is a tough ask.

They face Gent, the group’s top seeds. The Belgians qualified for the Europa League group stages last year and made it to the same competition’s round of 32 the previous season.

Moreover, the Irish side’s European record this season looks considerably better when you consider the Tallaght Stadium fixtures (played five, won four, drawn one) compared to on the road — their aggregates scores away to Ludogorets and Ferencvaros amounts 7-0 against, while they drew 0-0 with Hibernians of Malta and they secured their sole victory against Macedonian side Shkupi to complete a 5-2 aggregate win.

How do Gent compare to the previous taxing opponents they came up against in Europe?

“They are top seeds in this group so they are a good side, the league they play in domestically is a very good league so we know they are a good side. But we have seen that with Ludogorets and Ferencvaros, what we have played, they were very high-level opposition. Are Gent at that level? I’m not sure, you won’t get a real feel for it until tomorrow, but we know they are a good side who have real quality.”

The Belgians have made steady progress over the years without splashing the cash significantly, while Man City star Kevin De Bruyne is among the famous names they helped develop, spending six years as a youngster there.

Are Rovers looking to eventually emulate the type of gradual success Gent have acquired in recent times, as reflected by their impressive results in Europe?

“They’re a club that have been very good for the last few years in Europe,” says Bradley. “You just see the level they’ve played at. We’re in the group stages this year. The last time we were in the group stages was a long time ago and we don’t want that to be the case again. We want this to become regular for this club and we want to keep building and make the club bigger and stronger — everyone is working extremely hard to do so, the board, the players, the staff, the fans. I think we’re on the right path but we need to keep working to make sure that this is a regular occurrence for us and we’re playing in stadiums like this in games like this every year. That has to be our aim.”

Bradley himself is an admirer of the strides made in Belgian football, particularly at youth level over the past decade, resulting in a number of world-class stars ultimately being produced and a formidable national side who are regularly tipped as among the favourites to triumph at a major tournament.

“A few different teams, different ideas around Europe, and Belgium was more getting to understand how they trained their young players and what way they structure around that, and the national teams would have been the teams I’d have looked at when I was starting out in coaching but not just based on this coach, just different ideas that you pick up along the way, try and mould them to what fits your group of players and your beliefs. It’s just been something that I’ve liked from very young and we just try to add to it every week, every year and you pick different teams around the world that you take bits from.

“It was interesting, you had 12-year-olds playing with 16-year-olds. I think England and Ireland is starting to catch up on that now in terms of biobanding and playing players not in age groups but in their physical development. Belgium was doing that a long time ago so that was really interesting to see. Then just the technical and tactical aspect of how they trained was really interesting. I’ve always enjoyed watching different types of methodology and playing and I found Belgium very interesting.”

Gary O’Neill has been an important player in the Hoops’ European run, completing 90 minutes at the heart of midfield alongside Chris McCann in last week’s group opener.

The former UCD player was up for media duties with Bradley in the pre-match press conference and explained how he was looking forward to the challenge of going again in Europe.

“It’s just the excitement, to be honest with you. I was in a room with Ronan Finn last night we were talking about it, it’s a bit of a more relaxed feel this time around when it’s not [attempting to] qualify for the Europa League. You have to change it from the first leg or hold a lead or whatever it is, [whereas] it’s a more relaxed feel [in the group stages].

“But I think we showed last week we will be competitive in this group. It’s not something I want to come into it and say it’s a bonus [by simply qualifying].”

The 27-year-old also played down concerns surrounding Rovers’ away form in Europe and how it contrasts with their superb displays at Tallaght, as they look to pull off a major upset against Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s side.

“I have no real thoughts on it, really. Our home form has been really good over the last 12 months whether that be in the Champions League, Europa League, in the Conference League and domestically, our home form has been brilliant. Our away form has gone against us in Europe, but it’s not something that we are too worried about.”