Rory Gaffney insists Shamrock Rovers are determined to reach the group stages again.
But the Hoops striker has stressed that winning the league title will always be the team’s priority.
While Rovers started out in the Champions League qualifiers last summer, they ended up in the Europa Conference League group stages.
Tonight, they set out again on that Champions League path when they host Breidablik of Iceland in Tallaght.
Danish giants Copenhagen await the winner of the two-leg tie but the Conference League groups is still the realistic aim.
Rovers faced Gent, Molde and Djurgardens in their group last season but finished bottom with Bradley insisting the league was their priority.
And Gaffney, 33, has stressed that must be the case again this year as Rovers chase a fourth league crown in-a-row.
“We had to focus on the league last year as we wanted to be getting the champions route,” he said.
“Win this (tie) and you have a crack at all the competitions, unlike the other Irish teams where they have to win or they are out.
“The group stages is the aim but it can't come at the cost of winning the league - the league is still the most important thing for me and the club.”
Hoops boss Stephen Bradley reckons Breidablik - currently sitting third in Iceland’s top flight - could be on a par with any of last season’s group rivals.
They are not household names but that’s why Gaffney knows Rovers will need to guard against complacency.
The Galway man added: “They will have been happy to get us in the draw as well, I’m sure.
“If they were looking at who they could get, they were happy it was Shamrock Rovers.
We were on the seeded side which is where the big hitters were.
“But if you told us we were going to get the winners of the preliminary round we would have been more than happy with that.
“They do look a very good team and scored 12 goals over the two (qualifying) games.
“They seem to score a lot of goals so straight away you know they are going to be a good attacking threat.”
