Finn not thinking about Breiðablik game until after Drogheda clash
Despite being on the cusp of extending his already impressive European appearances haul, Shamrock Rovers captain Ronan Finn insists his sole concentration for the time being is on tonight’s visit to Drogheda United in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division (kick-off 7.45pm).
In last season’s UEFA Europa Conference League group stage opener for the Hoops against Djurgarden at Tallaght Stadium, Finn surpassed his former Dundalk team-mate Gary Rogers to become the League of Ireland player with the most European club outings to his name.
His 55th game in Europe, Finn featured on four additional occasions for Rovers in that Conference campaign and will reach a landmark 60th appearance if he is selected for their UEFA Champions League first qualifying round encounter against Breiðablik in Tallaght next Tuesday.
While to date he has represented the Hoops in 43 fixtures across two spells at the club, he has also lined out for Dundalk (14) and the now-defunct Sporting Fingal (two) on the European stage.
Yet with Dublin rivals St Patrick’s Athletic currently just four points adrift of them at the summit of the top-flight table, Finn believes this evening’s trip to Louth is every bit as important as what will follow four days later.
“We will do the same research for Drogheda as we would for Champions League opponents. Nothing changes. We have reviewed games that we have played against Drogheda. They beat us the last time we played, but we played quite well that day. They punished us,” Finn acknowledged at the launch of Shamrock Rovers’ ‘The Boot Room’ initiative in Roadstone on Tuesday.
“They caught us on the counter a couple of times. We will do our homework on them because it is a big three points that is at stake. We are coming into a busy period and you don’t want your league form dropping, as we want to be bouncing into those European games full of confidence.”
Although Finn (who is expected to be available tonight after missing the previous two games through injury) and his Rovers colleagues haven’t looked into their forthcoming Icelandic opponents in any great detail just yet, he is nevertheless aware of the bigger picture when it comes to Europe.
In addition to his prominent role for the Hoops in last season’s Conference League, he was also part of the Europa League group stage campaigns for Rovers and Dundalk in 2011 and 2016 respectively. The structure of UEFA’s club competitions means they will remain in European contention regardless of how their two-legged affair against Breiðablik pans out and Finn is acutely aware of the impact another long run could have for the domestic game in Ireland.
“I have had three European campaigns where I played in the group stages. In 2011, 2016 and last year. As a player you want to go again. You see what it brings to the league. People who traditionally watch Premier League football in England, suddenly Thursday night football is of interest. It gives that focus,” Finn added.