Soccer

'We must have more belief to beat Serbia' - Republic of Ireland defender Cyrus Christie

Republic of Ireland's Cyrus Christie still believes they can get their 2018 World Cup qualification back on track against Serbia tonight
Republic of Ireland's Cyrus Christie still believes they can get their 2018 World Cup qualification back on track against Serbia tonight Republic of Ireland's Cyrus Christie still believes they can get their 2018 World Cup qualification back on track against Serbia tonight

2018 World Cup Qualifying Group D: Republic of Ireland v Serbia (tonight, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm)

REPUBLIC of Ireland defender Cyrus Christie has urged his team-mates to have “more belief on the ball” ahead of tonight’s vital World Cup qualifier showdown with Group D leaders Serbia.

Christie didn’t pull any punches following the Republic’s desperately poor display against Georgia on Saturday night that saw them drop two precious points in the race for a place at next summer’s World Cup finals in Russia.

The Georgians, who have no chance of qualifying, passed the Republic of Ireland off the pitch in Tbilisi and were very unlucky not to bank three points instead of one.

Looking ahead to tonight’s visit of the Serbs, Christie sounded a defiant note.

“Of course we can beat them,” said Middlesboro's new defender.

“We have seen what we can do - we have beaten many a bigger team...

“We'll go into the Serbia game - it's in front of our own fans - and we have to put on a performance.

“We know that we have to win this game and stake our place in the group.

“We have dropped two points in Tbilisi so now we need to take on Serbia and take all three.”

Serbia coasted to a 3-0 win over Moldova last weekend to move clear by two points and were able to withdraw key players Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic and Southampton’s Dusan Tadic in the second half with their trip to Dublin in mind.

Christie added: “We need to control the game better. We did not play too much football against Georgia and did not control the game.

“We have to have a bit more belief on the ball. We have got it in our locker to do that.

“We did not show it on Saturday night but that game is finished and we move on and look forward to the Serbia game.”

Wales are hot on Ireland’s heels after they grabbed a late winner at home to Austria on Saturday night.

If the Welsh take the points in Moldova tonight and the Republic lose or draw then the Euro 2016 semi-finalists will dislodge Martin O’Neill’s men from second place.

Alternatively, a win for the Republic tonight would put them top of Group D.

“We did not start very well in Tbilisi,” said Christie.

“In the first half we were poor but we created a lot of chances in the end to score and could've put the game to bed.

“We let Georgia play too much, on another day we could have got a result but we might have lost it. We need to take the point and move on to the Serbia game.”

Christie was one of Ireland’s better performers in Tbilisi and has played well in the green jersey at right back in Seamus Coleman’s absence.

The Everton defender linked up with the Irish squad in Abbotstown yesterday and there are hopes the Killybegs native could see some action before Christmas following his horrendous double leg fracture against Wales in March.

After a torturous first half in Tbilisi, Christie broke forward several times in the second half and posed the Georgians problems.

“We have to stamp our authority on the next game and we need to learn from that and move on.

“We did not control the ball enough or play enough football to get our attacking players into the game.

“But we go into the Serbia game with a lot of belief and confidence that we can play from the get-go.”