Stephen Bradley has praised his Shamrock Rovers players for their "mature and responsible" attitude to taking Covid-19 vaccinations.
The Hoops took another step towards retaining the Airtricity League Premier Division title on Friday night with a 2-1 defeat of Derry City at Tallaght Stadium.
That victory leaves them nine points clear of St Pat's with a game in hand and in complete control of their destiny. Afterwards Bradley aired his satisfaction at a controlled performance, while also confirming his squad is now fully vaccinated.
"In this environment, we're so close together, it could easily happen where you've one person can have five or six close contacts and before you know it your team and squad is in trouble," he told RTÉ Sport.
"We never put any pressure on anyone to get the vaccine but thankfully the players were really mature and responsible about it and all went and got it, which is fantastic. It means we can all relax a little bit around each other."
Expanding on the game itself, he added: "I felt we were comfortable. We went in 2-1 up at half-time, deservedly so, and the second half we were comfortable.
"They are a good side. They have some good players in the attacking part of the pitch. we knew that. It's just about us focusing on what we do, keep picking up points and the rewards will come.
"I've no interest [in the clubs behind them]. It's about us, it's about what we do. What the other clubs do is up to them. We're just focused on our game."
There were about 4,000 fans inside Tallaght Stadium to get behind the table-toppers as a degree of normality returns to the game. Their presence is making a real difference, Bradley believes.
"The games around the league have been completely different when the fans have been back in... the energy, the tempo has been totally different. Hopefully we'll have a full house at some stage this year.
"We'd all the academy here tonight which was really good, from Under-7s right up to the Under-19s. You could hear them throughout the game. It's nice for them see the player that's playing in their position and [wearing] the jersey they want to take in the next few years."
