O’Neill sure Ireland will find a route to the goal

MARTIN O’Neill (right) has warned Denmark not to be taken in by the Republic of Ireland’s paltry World Cup goals tally.

The pair meet i n a decisive play-off second leg encounter at the Aviva Stadium this evening with Ireland having managed to find the back of the net on only f our occasions in their Group D qualifiers in Dublin.

Indeed, they managed only 12 goals in total during the entire campaign and could not add to it in Saturday evening’s 0-0 draw in Copenhagen.

O’Neill is acutely aware of the chasm 68-goal Robbie Keane left on his retirement from international football but remains confident his team can find a way to beat the Danes.

He said: “You have to treat the game on its own merits. You can’t look at the past now and say: ‘Well, we didn’t do this and we didn’t do that’.

“Some of the games we might have scored more goals in but we’re not prolific. Really top quality Republic of Ireland sides have not been able to score goals.

“You have Robbie Keane out on his own and the next person to him is someone who might have forced a corner or something like that. Seriously, that is the case.

“There have been great players who have played for the Republic of Ireland in their history and they have never been prolific.

“We have to find the net and we think we’re capable of doing it. We find everything tough, it’s the nature of us. We don’t have all the skills that maybe other nations have.

“We have to find it in different manners. I’ve said that umpteen times, we have to find it. So far, the lads have come up big in matches and today is a massive game and we’re hoping to do it again.”

Midfielder David Meyler is confident Ireland can blend the kind of defensive resilience which promoted Denmark midfielder Thomas Delaney to liken breaking them down to trying to “open a can of baked beans with your bare hands” with a goal-threat.

Meyler said: “We’re going to go and try and win the game because we want to qualify for the World Cup. We’re not going to lie there and let Denmark roll us over.

“We need to perform and we need to score goals. I believe we will.”

Meanwhile, Denmark manager Age Hareide has not made his players rehearse penalties ahead of their World Cup showdown with the Republic — because he does not believe they will need them.

Hareide saw enough in Saturday night’s 0-0 first leg play-off draw in Copenhagen to be confident the Danes will take care of business this evening without the need for a shootout.

Asked if that was because he was superstitious or confident of victory before it gets to that stage, he replied: “Both. I’m always superstitious — and we don’t need them.”