In the aftermath of Shamrock Rovers 4-1 UEFA Europa League group stage defeat against Rubin Kazan at Tsentralnyi Stadion, the Rovers manager, Martin ONeill, has revealed his disappointment on the result and heaped praise on the Rubin strikers, Obafemi Martins and Nelson Valdez.Valdez excelled in the European tie by recording a fabulous performance against the Irish club. The Paraguayan national managed to score the opening goal of the match and completed a brace by scoring a well taken goal during the second period.Martin, on the other hand, has been instrumental for the Russian outfit in the European competition and domestically. The Nigerian national has scored 2 goals and provided an assist in 4 Europa League appearances.With the defeat, the Irish premier division champions remain at the bottom spot on the group table after failing to win any group stage encounter this term. However ONeill is confident that the Irish outfit can outcast major European teams, if they get proper funds from the clubs owners in the near future."I wish we could have players like Martin and Valdez. The club have simply no money to sign top-class players but we do not complain about it and we try to play as good as we can. Im pleased with my guys. Rovers are capable of more and we are not ashamed of our football." The former Newcastle United man was quoted as saying.He added, "Rubin gave us no surprises because we knew about them. I thought that could have turned it around when the score was 1-2 but we failed." ONeill said in the post-match press conference.ONeill went on to say that his team had not played a game in more than a month and admitted that Shamrock were not ready to play in extreme weather conditions in Russia, away from home.Speaking on the reason behind their recent slip-ups since the end of domestic championship, he said"We had less match practice and out team had become psychologically weak before the match."Shamrock will now take on Tottenham hotspur in the upcoming European group stage game at Tallaght Stadium.
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