NATHAN Collins shrugged his shoulders about the possibility of being moved to right wing-back ahead of Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualifier against France in Paris on Thursday where he would come face-to-face with world superstar Kylian Mbappe.
A recognised central defender whose become first choice for the Republic of Ireland, Collins said: “I wouldn't care, once I am on the pitch. I will do my job; I will do anything. I’ve played enough positions in football to know my roles, but it wouldn’t bother me.”
Collins could be pushed out to the right flank for the Parc des Princes clash in the absence of Seamus Coleman (injured) and Matt Doherty (suspended), the result of which could have a defining impact on Ireland’s stuttering qualification campaign to date that has saw Stephen Kenny’s men lose to the French, in Dublin, and Greece, in Athens before easing to a home win over Group B no-hopers Gibraltar.
At his squad announcement last Thursday, the manager felt the Irish were “one big win away from the group having a completely different complexion”.
Whether that elusive win comes against the highly fancied French is a moot point before the Republic host Holland at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday night.
“A good window would be six points, wouldn’t it?” said Collins at the team’s headquarters in Abbotstown yesterday, with reports suggesting John Egan is a major doubt.
“We would take that 100 per cent. We’ll just go and try and cause them problems. There are a lot of chances there, especially at home, with the crowd behind us we can do anything.
“I think we can go and get a win [against Holland], easily. Away from home, I think we can cause so many problems and I think we can nick something, honest to God.
“They are two top teams but three points, four points, anything is good. If we can get something out of these two games, it puts it right back into contention.”
Collins moved from Wolves to Brentford in the summer for £23m and has played three out of four of the Bees’ Premier League games so far and brings good form into this crucial international window.
The 22-year-old Kildare native also draws a lot of confidence from their 1-0 home defeat to the French back in March – arguably the best performance of Kenny’s three-year reign, even though it yielded no points.
On the prospect of facing Mbappe, Collins said: “The lesson [from March] is we know his quality. Every game he plays he causes everyone problems. There’s no way you can do it on your own, one-v-one he beats anyone.
“We have to defend as a unit, we have to defend as a team and back each other. If he does beat us, then there must be more people waiting to come up against him.
“But they have more quality on the other wing and more quality in the middle. It’s about balancing it all. He is a massive threat, we were able to deal with him once and we have to draw confidence from that.
“It’s probably mentally harder than physically when you know what you are against, you know how good they can be and if you switch off for a split second they are going to hurt you.
“It’s what I’ve said before, it’s what you want to do as a footballer, you want to play against the best, you want to try and test yourself against the best and this is the stage to do it on. I’m relishing the challenge, I’m really looking forward to it.”
At the end of yesterday’s press conference, Collins wore a wry smile when reminded of his bullet header towards the end against France that was miraculously palmed away by Mike Maignan.
“I thought it was in, but we go again,” he said.
