Aaron McEneff a doubt for Europe after coming off injured in ...

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.”

While Bradley awaits news on McEneff, he admitted he had hoped to play more senior players in the friendly against Finnish champions HJK, but it wasn’t worth risking those who are currently carrying knocks.

“This week was just about getting them going, getting minutes into the legs,” added Bradley, with a home date against Borac to come next month before the final League Phase clash away to Chelsea, as the Hoops target the Last 16 stage next year.

“We have a few knocks, six or seven who have knocks, that we didn’t take chances with and we won't on Friday (second friendly against HJK) either.

“It (Thursday’s team) was younger than what we probably would have liked overall, but there is no point in taking risks this week. We’ll just get them ready for next week and it’s three brilliant games to be getting ready for.

“We knew HJK were in a similar position to us, we know they are a good side. It was hard to work on certain things, because there were so many changes with players that we couldn’t play. But it’s still good to get the game and just get minutes into the legs again before next week.”

After his players enjoyed a week off before their three upcoming Conference League clashes, Bradley says it was important to give them a rest ahead of the huge ties.

“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.”

“We like Alex (Noonan),” added Bradley, after the 16-year-old goalkeeper came on for the second half to earn his second appearance for the club.

“We think he has got a good future ahead of him, he just needs to keep working hard. He has a great attitude and really good attributes. It was good to get him on the pitch. For a goalkeeper he’s obviously very young, but we like him.”