Rory Hale: Shamrock Rovers meeting is a 'massive incentive' but Cliftonville can ill-afford to look by St Joseph's
Cliftonville captain Rory Hale says the Reds are chomping at the bit to shine on the European stage and set-up a potential meeting with Shamrock Rovers.
The men from north Belfast are in Gibraltar this evening as they lock horns with St Joseph’s in the first leg of their Conference League clash.
Cliftonville, who qualified for the European stage after beating Coleraine in the end-of-season play-offs, know they will face League of Ireland outfit Shamrock Rovers if they are to progress against St Joseph’s over two legs.
A clash against their cross-border opposition is one that appeals to Hale – but he knows they will have to produce the goods against a St Joseph’s side, who famously knocked Larne out in 2022.
He said: "I love playing in Europe every single year. Obviously, last season I missed the two games against the Latvian team (FK Auda) because of injury, so, I'm definitely ready on a personal level to go out and put on a good performance.
"Hopefully we can go on and win the tie because what a massive incentive it is to get the Shamrock Rovers in the next round.
"It's there for us if we want to go and do it. It's only up to us. This group loves playing in the big games.
"We've had the experiences in the last couple of years, so it's a big incentive to go out and get a result.
"If we want to be playing in the big games, I want to be playing in the big games and what a tie that could be with Shamrock Rovers."
Cliftonville celebrated Joe Gormley’s testimonial on Sunday with a 2-2 home draw against Derry City before travelling to sunny Gibraltar.
Jim Magilton’s men returned to training several weeks ago and 28-year-old Hale remarked how it’s been a quick turnaround for the group after their 2024-25 commitments.
"It's tough as you've got a short window there,” he reflected.
"To be fair, we probably started back later than we were expected to, but we had to as the season finished so late for us.
"It ended in the middle of May and with those extra games, we played over 50 games last season, so we had to have the extra wee break.
"We've been hammering the runs and to be fair to Ricky (McCann, strength and conditioning coach), he looks like he's got us flying fit at the minute, hopefully we're flying fit for Tuesday.
"I haven't personally done any research on St Joseph’s but I have no doubt that Jim and Skin will have everything down to a ‘T’, and they'll have the analysis ready for us.
"The only thing I know is that they ran Shelbourne close last year, who went on to win the League of Ireland, so they're obviously not a bad side.
"They lost a league goal difference, so they must be a good outfit, solid.
"It's going to be a real tough test for us, but it's one of those games where they'll be fancying themselves and we'll be fancying ourselves."