SELL-OUT CROWD CAN PROPEL PLAYERS TO VITAL RESULT: MART
THE full house signs are almost up at Aviva Stadium ahead of Friday night’s World Cup qualifier with Moldova, but Martin O’neill has urged his players to keep their heads while all around are losing theirs.
Ireland need to beat the low ranked visitors to keep alive their hopes of World Cup qualification, and O’neill wants to see more from his players than he did in the final stages of the 1-0 defeat to Serbia last month.
“We have to find a way to beat Moldova at home here and I think the crowd will be big for us,” O’neill said.
“I think we’re up to about 45,000 now at this minute, which is great news, and I think with their support we can see it through.
“We have to put heart and soul and every bit of energy into this game to get a result.
“If you’re talking about cool heads, in the last 15, 20 minutes of the Serbia game, I look at Premier League players who still can’t suss the idea that ‘we’ve got the extra man we should try and utilise it’.
“But we had a couple of shots from outside the penalty area, that a little bit more care should have been taken with.
“I think that’s the time that you just show a wee bit more coolness.”