2018 World Cup Qualifying Group D: Republic of Ireland v Serbia (Tonight, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm)
MARTIN O’Neill has reminded his Republic of Ireland players that if they can beat Germany and Italy they can overcome Serbia and go top of their 2018 World Cup qualifying Group D in Dublin tonight.
O’Neill has come under fierce criticism following the Republic’s disappointing 1-1 draw against Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday night.
Afterwards, the Kilrea man admitted the performance was the worst during his time in charge.
However, O’Neill was in upbeat mood ahead of tonight’s visit of the star-studded Serbs and dismissed the criticism he’s endured over the past few days.
“It comes with the territory,” he said. “If you haven’t played well you leave yourself open to criticism and as manager my responsibility is for what happens on the field.
“In my three or four years, criticism has followed me around… We have not lost a competitive game here [Dublin] despite some poor 20-30-45 minutes [in games], and we remain unbeaten in this competition.
“Players,” the manager said, “have to be reminded of that; take the criticism and really get on with it. Push it to the side because the criticism is not going to win or lose you a game. It’s what you do on the field and if we play strongly tomorrow we can win the game.
“Think of the nights we’ve had here at Aviva - we beat the world champions [Germany], we beat Bosnia in the play-offs and we’ve had fight-backs in some other games and grandstand finishes.”
Jeff Hendrick is still ruled out through injury for the home side, while Aiden McGeady [hamstring] and Wes Hoolahan [groin] are carrying knocks ahead of tonight’s Group D clash with leaders Serbia, who boast top players Nemanja Matic, Dusan Tadic, Branislav Ivanovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
O’Neill added: “We're going to try and do two things - win the game, and if we can't do that, then we'll try to get something out of it. But first and foremost, we're going to try and win the match.
“If we win, then we set ourselves up for a grandstand finish.”
Anything other than an Irish win and Wales could edge ahead of them in the group as they are expected to take three points in Moldova tonight.
At last night’s press conference, Nemanja Matic said that Serbia realised the significance of tonight’s showdown in Dublin.
“It is the most important game for us in this qualification and maybe in our football history in Serbia,” said the Manchester United star.
