O’neill wants to see ‘grandstand finish’

A defiant Martin O’neill has warned people not to write off the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualification hopes as they target a crucial victory over Serbia.

The Republic returned from Georgia during the early hours of Sunday morning facing strong criticism of their display in a 1-1 draw in Tbilisi, O’neill himself admitting their first-half performance was as poor a 45 minutes as they have produced during the campaign to date.

Tonight’s clash with Serbia, who lead Group D by two points, has looked likely to be pivotal for some time, but with Wales now breathing down Ireland’s neck it has assumed even greater importance.

But O’neill, pictured, remains unbowed as he attempts to guide his team to a top-two finish.

He said: “We’re in a tough group and we were fourth seeds, so there was Wales, Austria and Serbia in front of us. What we’re going to try to do is remember that it’s been difficult from the start. That’s number one.

“If we can’t win the group, then we’re going to try to get into the play-offs. That will mean we’ve finished in front of teams who were rated ahead of us.

“You have to ask why they’re rated in front of us in the last couple of years. Maybe their records are better, maybe their co-efficients are better over a certain period of time, I don’t know. Wales’ efforts at the Euros were very commendable – in fact, they were excellent.

“We’re in there fighting. If we win, then we set ourselves up for a grandstand finish.”