Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley believes that his side should have "won quite comfortably" against Sligo Rovers in their last SSE Airtricity League outing but admits that it won't be easy to bounce back at the UCD Bowl on Friday night.

The Hoops have dropped into second place in the Premier Division, behind Dundalk on goal difference, after a third defeat in their last four matches but Bradley felt that his players had done enough to get all three points at the Showgrounds.

"We’re obviously disappointed we lost but I thought we were excellent within the game," Bradley said.

"We dominated the game in every area and we lose to two unbelievable strikes from them. The right back puts it in from 30 yards with his left foot and they hit a free kick from 30 yards.

"There’s nothing you can do. We were excellent throughout the game and should have won quite comfortably but we’re beaten by two really good goals."

Shamrock Rovers aiming for second win against UCD this term

The Tallaght club make the short trip to Belfield on Friday night, after almost a two week break, to face a UCD side that have lost their last six matches.

The last meeting between the sides ended in a 3-1 win for Rovers.

"We’re looking forward to it," added Bradley. "We know from when we played them in Tallaght that it’ll be difficult and we’ve watched them a lot over there this year.

"They’ve been on the wrong end of results but they’ve been in every game, they’re creating chances and they’ll be dangerous. I don’t think UCD will change their style of play from Tallaght, they’ll look to play.

"Every game for us is about getting points on the board and the next two are no different. We’ll approach them like we do every game.

"Things went against us last week but we just have to produce that performance again and put away one or two of our chances.”

Bradley will still be without defenders Sam Bone and Sean Kavanagh but welcomes back teenage full-back James Furlong (pictured above) who was an ever-present for the Ireland under-17s team during their UEFA European Championship campaign.

Midfielder Ronan Finn will also be missing as he serves a one-match suspension.