Lopes lauds young guns for leading Rovers' title charge

ROBERTO LOPES has backed Shamrock Rovers' teenage stars to help spearhead the club's bid to return to the top of Irish football.

- BY MARK McCADDEN

Stephen Bradley's side have opened up an 11-point gap on the rest, thanks to last Friday's 4-1 dismantling of Cork City - and they can further extend their advantage tonight against Bohemians.

Lopes (33) got on the scoresheet against the Leesiders, while Michael Noonan, who at 16 is less than half the veteran centre-half’s age, scored twice.

Noonan was one of three teens to start against Cork, along with John O'Sullivan and Cory O'Sullivan (both 19), while Max Kovalevskis (17) came off the bench.

It’s a frightening array of talent emerging from an academy that has already produced Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.

And Cape Verde international Lopes believes the young guns have what it takes to thrive in the highpressure environment at Tallaght Stadium.

“The young people that we have in the dressing room at the moment are really good characters, really good personalities,” he said.

“And then the quality, everyone can see out there. They're ready to play.