“It’s intense and hostile” – Stephen Bradley on the Dublin Derby

Safe to say he's quite confident going into the new season.

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley has no particular target in mind for the 2018 campaign barring his team show progression from last season and try to close the gap on the likes of Cork City and Dundalk. Speaking at the launch of the league on Tuesday, Bradley wasn't making any sweeping statements.

"I think we just need to show progression again and hopefully try to close the gap on the top two," he said. "We all know that it's up to the rest of us to try and catch them and I think that's what we need to try and do."

The Hoops kick off their league season against fierce rivals Bohemians at Dalymount Park on Friday night and Bradley had that look in his eye thinking about the prospect, describing the Dublin Derby as "one of them games".

"It's  just one of them games you can prepare to play a certain way, then you start it's completly different," he explained. "I've played in enough of them and been in and around enough of them to know you just have to be ready for what the game throws up and be ready to go and hopefully we are on Friday."

The 33-year-old has expiernced the derby as a player and a manager for Shamrock Rovers and he knows all about how much it means to take on their Northside counterparts.

"Any other game you can have a gameplan on how the opposition are going to play or how you are going to play, how you are going to win the game but, in these games, it's all about the win and the rivalry between us and them when you go there (Dalymount). "It's intese and hostile, it's a strange one. Any derby around the world is like that. Very rarely they are pretty to look at and that's what derbies are all about, going out and getting the result. "It will be a great atmosphere, it's a sell-out and it always is a very good crowd. We are really looking forward to it."

This article was written by Sam McKeever.