WE’LL MAKE RUSSIA DESPITE SLIP-UP, SAYS DUFF

DAMIEN DUFF is confident Ireland will see off Denmark in next month’s World Cup play-off, but insists Martin O’Neill’s men passed up a great opportunity to qualify for Russia automatically. ‘I still think we messed up along the way,’ he asserts bluntly. ‘Serbia won the group, yet only by a point, so I think the group was there for us to win.’ ‘However, I don’t think Denmark are blessed with an awful lot of quality. They obviously have Christian Eriksen, who people could argue is world-class, but I’m not sure what else they have. ‘It’s staring at us in black and white that Denmark was the best draw. ‘Looking at the names in the Croatian and Italians teams, we are rubbing our hands together when we avoided them. ‘We won’t underestimate them (Denmark) but hopefully we’re the underdogs because that’s when our best performances come.’ Should Ireland qualify for a first World Cup in 16 years, Duff believes the achievement would entitle O’Neill to be held in the same esteem as former manager Jack Charlton. ‘We all laud Jack Charlton as probably the biggest football hero in this country but this would be the first time we’ve qualified for two consecutive major tournaments since his time. ‘Jack played in a similar fashion to Martin and is considered a hero in Ireland. Maybe we have to look at that sometimes. ‘We’re all quick to criticise the style of play but we’re in another play-off and it’s probably got the best draw in facing Denmark. ‘It’s not pretty to watch at times but maybe with the personnel that’s just the way Martin goes. ‘We’ve had some of the biggest results in our football history over the last couple of years and it’s under Martin. So that’s why it’s hard to knock him. ‘I guess we are always chasing perfection. Maybe we think we are better than we are,’ he added.

* Damien Duff and former Ireland manager Brian Kerr were at St Killian’s National School in Tallaght to launch the FARE football weeks, coordinated by Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI)