Keane wants to make it hard night for Bale
ROY KEANE admits Gareth Bale will find a way to hurt the Republic of Ireland on Friday night.
The Wales and Real Madrid star is fit to try to rescue his nation’s faltering World Cup campaign.
Ireland No.2 Keane knows Bale is good enough to ruin any game plan but he wants his men to lay down an early marker on him.
Keane said: “Tackle him, hit him ... fairly. Tackling is part of the bloody game!
“Your eyes don’t lie when you see good players and he’s a brilliant player. He’s world class. Ronaldo, Messi – it’s all about opinions.
“But what you find is that players and coaches have tried to come up with a plan before then top players figure it out and affect the game anyway. Bale has done that for a number of years on the big occasions so I can’t say we have any particular plan.”
Former Celtic star Keane is an big admirer of Bale and has urged his men to enjoy playing against the Welsh superstar.
He said: “There’s huge respect for him. If you want to go through the Welsh team, they’ve a lot of good players like Aaron Ramsey, some good defenders and midfielders.
“Bale’s a talented boy who has fulfilled his potential and probably more. I like watching him play because he’s a big player.
“But our lads should look forward to the challenge – you should want to play with the best. Bale’s up there with the best players in the world.”