Aaron McEneff a doubt for Europe after coming off injured in Shamrock Rovers’ friendly loss to HJK Helsinki

The 29-year-old has started the Hoops’ last two League Phase wins over Larne and TNS, but is now set for a scan on his hamstring after coming off injured in Rovers’ 2-0 friendly defeat to HJK Helsinki on Thursday night.

Despite there being no contact to his leg, McEneff felt his hamstring tighten and left the pitch midway through the second half as Bradley shared the latest on the midfielder, who returned to Tallaght Stadium last January from Perth Glory.

“Right now, Aaron has come off there, that was a strange one. He passed the ball and felt his hamstring tighten up. There was no contact, nothing, so that’s definitely a worry,” said Bradley after the friendly defeat, ahead of next Thursday’s trip to the Austrian kingpins.

“It was the same hamstring (he injured before), but a different area. I was just talking to him there and he felt fine, no issues. He felt good and just one pass and he felt it really tighten up.

“Hopefully it’s not bad and he has just come out quickly, but you are looking at him coming off, hopefully it’s not bad. You are just not sure until he gets it scanned. He knew as soon as he passed it. It wasn’t as if it was a sprint or just after full-time, he was moving well, said he felt nothing at all and then it happened. Hopefully it’s just a little tweak and he’s not too bad.”

“We had a week off which was needed. It was nice mentally and physically to switch off. It was good to get that, then come back in this week and get ready,” he added.

“The players know we’ve got three big games coming up, so it was not as if it was a month off, it was just a week. It was important they had that time away. A break like that always helps, especially after a long season. We play until late December, so it was important that the players enjoyed it and came back in good spirits.”