Stephen Bradley offered an air of confidence ahead of his side's UEFA Conference League clash with Molde, however, the Shamrock Rovers manager is under no illusion as to the task at hand at Tallaght Stadium tomorrow night.
The Hoops enjoyed a vital 1-0 away victory in Norway last week, which puts them in pole position to progress to the last 16 of the competition, yet Bradley expects his opponents to provide more of a challenge in the deciding second leg.
Rovers game-plan could not have gone any better at the Aker Stadion last week, aided by the home side getting reduced to ten men just before half-time, and the Dublin club went on and won the tie thanks to the solitary strike of teenage prospect Michael Noonan.
That result puts the onus on the Norwegian side to take the game to Rovers for the second leg, and while Bradley does not expect the team to stray too far from the script, he is anticipating a much improved performance from Molde.
"I think they will tweak certain aspects of what they do to try and hurt us, obviously, so we have got to be ready for that," said Bradley, speaking to the media on the eve of the game.
"But I think in terms of their principles and how they play, I don’t see that changing too much, they play how they play and they are really good at what they do, and no doubt they will be better than last week.
"We know we did ok in the first leg last week and brought home an advantage, but the tie is very much still on.
"It has the makings to be a good game again, and if we play to our level, we're more than a match for anyone in Tallaght. So that’ll be the aim.
"We'll go to win the game. I don’t think you can go any other way. We’ll have to be controlled and measured of course, and we’ll need to be clever in how we do it.
"At this level, I don’t think you can approach games and hope to sit back and hope to hang on. You’re asking for trouble as teams have too much quality and, at some point, they will get an opportunity. You have to make sure you try to go and win the game."
A place in the last 16 of the competition is at stake as Rovers continue their historic journey into the unknown for League of Ireland sides.
And yet, the manager has maintained throughout the journey that his side are quite comfortable at this level and believes that they deserve a place in the next round, which would be hugely beneficial to both club and league.
"We haven’t feared many teams we have played in the past and I think that we genuinely belong here," said Bradley.
"We want to go through and be in the last 16, we want to push the club forward and that’s what we are trying to do.
"It would mean a lot for this club, for these players, these fans that have been through so much over the years, and secondly for the league.
"It’s a really big step forward for the league, which is so important and we are showing the path for hopefully what can come after us. So hopefully we can go and make that step tonight."
Bradley kept faith with the aforementioned Noonan for Sunday’s opening league game with Bohemians, which ended in defeat, and it would appear that the teenager, who went back to school on Friday following his Molde magic, is primed to go once again at a sold out Tallaght Stadium.
"He’s fine," said Bradley. "Michael is in a really good place. He’s young in age, but in every other aspect he is really mature with how he goes about his business.
"He has an elite mentality to football and life, and there has been a lot of attention around him, rightly so for someone so young.
"But he hasn’t been dealing with any of that directly which is really good and really important for us as a club to protect him in that regard.
"Michael just wants to play football, he’s fine, he’s in a good place."
Bradley made the headlines following the Bohemians defeat at Aviva Stadium for his criticism of the Ireland manager’s comments before Christmas, and the Rovers manager added some context today, while also stressing his opposition to the way Colin Healy departed his role with the women's national team.
"I’d given programme notes on the 28 January and somehow they go missing and don’t show up in the programme," said Bradley.
"I’m very passionate about this league, and very passionate about growing it. I love this league, I love this club. I spoke about that, I spoke about the Ireland manager’s comments, I spoke about Colin Healy, who I think how he has been treated has been disgracefully.
"I understand to a certain extent what Colin and his family have gone through over the last 18 months. He has lost his wife, he has young daughters, I’ve lost my Mam, I’m in it at the moment with Josh (his son, who has been receiving cancer treatment).
"I can fully understand where Colin is emotionally, how he is feeling these past 18 months.
"I was down at the funeral, he has an incredibly strong family, his son got up and spoke and was incredible.
"If anyone knows Colin, he is one of the nicest men in football, and for us to treat one of our best young coaches and managers, how we treated him shouldn’t be acceptable."
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