Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley said he had a "good chat" with club captain Ronan Finn before deciding to remain at the Tallaght club and acknowledged that the lure of European football was a factor in his decision.
All week, Bradley was widely tipped to leave the defending champions for Lincoln City. However, on Friday, the surprise news emerged that Bradley had declined the opportunity with the League One side and was staying in Dublin.
Having made his decision to remain, Bradley watched his side dispatch Finn Harps 3-1 in Tallaght on Friday night, Derry City's simultaneous failure to beat Bohemians at home narrowing the gap at the top to a single point.
Speaking afterwards to RTÉ Sport, Bradley said the players were kept in the loop all week, as he weighed up the offer from England.
"The players have been brilliant. We had chats during the week and I was open and honest with them. I had a really good chat with Ronan (Finn) before I made my decision.
"It was really good to get the players' point of view. We all respect each other in the dressing room, players and staff. All week, we kept them in the loop of where I was and what I was thinking."
Bradley acknowledged that the lure of European football was a factor when making the decision and said he felt he had more to achieve with the Hoops.
"It (Europe) was definitely a factor within the decision. Like I said, and I genuinely mean it, Lincoln are a really good club, really clever people there and they're going to be successful.
"But I felt that here, we still have things to achieve. That was really important to me.
"We have to keep pushing. Keep pushing each other, pushing the standards. Keep pushing our hunger and ambition. If we do that, the quality is there. We need to be better than last year and let's see can we do that."
Finn Harps boss Ollie Horgan praised his team's effort in the second half but acknowledged it was a difficult situation with the Donegal side battling injury and fatigue issues in a clogged fixture schedule. David Webster and Ryan Connolly are both laid low with injury.
"Is it a point lost? No. We salvaged what pride we could have in the second half.
"But look, we're down a lot of bodies. I just hope we haven't picked up any more knocks tonight. There's only so many we can take.
"We've taken a number of blows in recent weeks and it's getting harder. But look, we'll move on, we'll move on.
"We're struggling for selection, there's a lot of tired limbs. We're down to the bare bones. I'm not sure how we can solve it in the meantime."
Notwithstanding the issues, Horgan is hanging around Ballybofey for a while yet.
"What? D'you think I'm going to Lincoln? It's a lovely town! Look, it's tough going. It doesn't get any easier. There's no point in pretending. We're all going to leave in a number of years.
"At the end of last year, when so many players left... but the ones that stayed were probably the reason I stayed. To lose one or two of them early, it's difficult.
"But we're not the only ones with injury problems. It's great to be playing in Tallaght still and please God, we'll be playing in it next year but it'll take a serious effort."
