Stephen Bradley said he was focusing on the “bigger picture” regarding away performances as Shamrock Rovers failed to maximise home comforts going into next week’s trip to KuPS in the Conference League play-off round.

The Hoops led their Finnish opponents at Tallaght Stadium before a late equaliser saw KuPS wipe out Enda Stevens’ opener and grab a 1-1 draw on Thursday night.

Rovers’ European campaign this summer has been characterised by setbacks on the road with defeats at Maltese side Floriana (2-0), Ararat Armenia (2-0) and Albania’s Egnatia (5-1).

Thursday’s result means they will not carry an advantage to Finland with them for next Thursday’s second leg.

But speaking to RTÉ soccer correspondent Tony O’Donoghue after the draw with KuPS, Bradley felt the “narrative” about away results did not tell the full story.

“If you look away in Armenia, we were very, very good, (in) Malta not so good, obviously Albania not good,” he said.

“I think I understand the narrative and I can see why people would create a lot of negativity around our away performances, our results.

“But I think if you look throughout the years at the bigger picture, some of our away performances have been excellent.

“And like I said, Armenia was really good, so we just need to be calm, relaxed and go and play the game.”

“I thought we were good, obviously disappointed to conceded the goal…”

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley speaks to @corktod about his side’s draw against KuPS in the Conference League first leg at Tallaght Stadium pic.twitter.com/JQoR9MQ4Rt

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 20, 2026

Despite missing out on a first-leg victory in their quest to reach the Conference League proper for the fourth time in five seasons, Bradley was satisfied by his side’s efforts on Thursday.

“I thought some of it was good, I thought some of it was really good,” he said.

“(KuPS) are a good team. You can see what they’re trying to do, the traps they’re trying to set for you.

“We came a little bit away in the second half. They had momentum at times in the second half, but no, I thought we were good.

“Obviously, (I’m) disappointed to concede the goal. At some point they’re going to get a chance and it wasn’t even a chance to be fair.

“No, I thought we were good.”

Jack Byrne is remaining upbeat despite Shamrock Rovers not making the most of home advantage in their Conference League play-off first leg against KuPS tonight | @corktod pic.twitter.com/JoQ6w6NGUs

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 20, 2026

Meanwhile, Jack Byrne felt Rovers still have a strong chance of getting through when they head to Finland for the second leg.

“Just disappointed obviously when you go the goal up, you would like to see the game out,” he said.

“Our record is really good here in Tallaght and it has been this season. Away form hasn’t been that good so we need to change that next week now.”

The midfielder added that he was not overly concerned about the astro surface that KuPS will host them on.

“We have an astro in Roadstone so I’m sure we’ll be on that this week and see how it goes.”