Stephen Bradley believes the infusion of younger energy into the Shamrock Rovers squad will stand his side in good stead when they take on Norwegian side Molde in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League play-off tie.
The SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division side will be on the road at the Aker Stadion on Thursday in a 5.45pm kick-off.
While Rovers have seen the likes of Johnny Kenny, Neil Farrugia, Darragh Burns and Markus Poom depart since the club competed successfully in the league phase of the competition pre-Christmas, five additions have been made including Matt Healy, Danny Grant, teenage attacker Michael Noonan and goalkeeper Ed McGinty who are all 25 or under, as well as veteran former Celtic defender Adam Matthews.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Bradley said he was excited what the new arrivals will bring to the table.
"They've been excellent. The five of them have brought a real energy to the group, a real freshness, which is what we wanted," he said.
"They're younger, a lot younger than what we've had in the group, but it's a nice mix with the older, more experienced players.
"They've been excellent and settled in well, and they're good people. I'm really happy with them."
While the Hoops manager was happy with how his side navigated pre-season including a stint in Spain, they will have key players missing against Molde with Darragh Nugent, Trevor Clarke and Jack Byrne all unavailable.
"Darren Nugent took a bad knock. Him and Gary O'Neill clashed in Spain, so he has a fracture above his nose and he'll need a mask for that before he can play," said Bradley.
"Trevor picked up a knock a couple of weeks back and just isn't ready. Jack is probably another couple of weeks away from being ready, but they're the only three."
Molde, meanwhile, were beaten by St Patrick's Athletic in a friendly at the start of the month during their preparations for the tie but Bradley said he would not read too much into that result.
"I don't think you can take anything from pre-season games," he said.
"Obviously you can see certain principles of what they are trying to do, but I think pre-season games are completely different from European games."
Captain Roberto Lopes added that Shamrock Rovers' approach to the game will not be markedly different from how they went about things during a league phase that saw them take on the likes of Chelsea and Rapid Vienna.
"We're going to approach it like we've approached all European games this year," he said.
"We're going to try to use our experience and know-how we've built up. The most important thing is to bring a positive result back to Tallaght and make a game of it.
"We want to progress. (Molde) are a good side, we know they're a good side, but that has to be the goal, to bring something back."
He added: "The fact we're sitting here now, we've definitely improved on our last few standings in European competition.
"We're going to have to draw on that, especially the new lads that have come into the squad, and share that with them and get them through the game.
"But it's a great game to be a part of and we're really looking forward to it."
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