‘When I got stabbed, I learned … how it can help you’ – Stephen Bradley using psychologist for Shamrock Rovers

Stephen Bradley learned early in his career – when he was seriously injured in a stabbing incident while a young trainee at Arsenal – that instead of bottling things up, it’s good to talk.

So just as overcoming the natural male instinct of keeping quiet to instead speak to someone when that trauma came his way, for Bradley, a sports psychologist is now part of the furniture with the Hoops when he and his coaching staff sit down to plot out a way past obstacles like Icelandic side Breidablik.

There is a lot riding on the tie as Danish side FC Copenhagen await the victors in the second round. However, questions surround Rovers.

Is midfield talisman Jack Byrne fit? Will relative rookie Leon Pohls cope with the pressure of being the last line of defence? And can Rovers put aside their domestic woes, which has seen them fail to win – or even score – in their last two league games?

But experience has taught Bradley to look for any advantage possible to make his side better, hence the club’s decision to bring in – permanently, after a trial run in Europe last year – someone to tend to the mental side of the game as well as the physical.

“We have a sports psychologist that works with the team on a full-time basis, Mary Larkin, and she has been incredible for the group. When we analysed last year, we felt it was one area we could improve on. We have always touched on it, but this year she has been in full-time with us,” says Bradley. “The players see her as much as possible and she really helps us as a group, which is great.

“We trialled it in the group stages and it worked really well, and you can see the difference in the group.

“It’s something we love and it’s definitely one of the first things, as a manager, that you look for, that we can’t do without. She has been brilliant for us.”

Bradley was just 18 and learning his trade with Arsenal when he was attacked during a burglary of his London apartment, leaving him with serious injuries and forcing him out of the game for a year.

“When I got stabbed when I was younger, I was lucky enough that I learned how to speak to people like that and how it can help you. As young men, sometimes we can have a barrier up against that.

“I feel now that the young men who play the game and are in dressing rooms today, they embrace it and want it. They understand how important it is,” he says.

“In our environment, we feel that having someone like Mary and being open to talking and being vulnerable is really important, and Mary allows us the opportunity to do that, which is brilliant.”

Psychology is key for games like this: as the seeded team, who will be backed by 6,000-strong support (the Icelandic club are bringing just 100 fans), Rovers are expected to progress and get that draw with Copenhagen.

But despite Breidablik’s relatively weak European pedigree, Bradley is deeply wary.

“I like the way they play, they’re a good side, a tough side,” he says of the team who beat opposition from San Marino and Montenegro in qualifiers to earn this tussle.

“They were a level above anything else in their (qualifying) group. When you speak to people over there, who know their football, they really rate them. You’ll see that tonight.”

Shamrock Rovers v Breidablik, Live, RTÉ2, 7.45