Polish roadshow won’t slow down in Dublin

PACE-SETTERS Poland have no intention of slipping up in Group D now – with Robert Lewandowski aiming for a Dublin demolition next. Martin O’Neill’s crestfallen Republic of Ireland need to derail the Polish freight-train in March to regain their Euro 2016 ambitions.

But with Poland soaring to the summit with 10 points from their opening four matches, the task of toppling the Irish on March 29 doesn’t daunt them. Instead, they are relishing another away mission after throttling Georgia 4-0 in Tbilisi on Friday. ‘Our good start gives us a good chance of qualification for France,’ outlined their talisman and current skipper Lewandowski.

‘Next year is big for us, starting with Ireland away in March. We have shown already by beating Germany that we can handle any team so we are looking forward to more good results when we come back in the new year.’

Some good news for O’Neill is the absence from the visiting team of influential defender Kamil Glik.

Although the Torino centre-back put his head to good use in Georgia by supplying the precious opener six minutes after the restart, he lost it in collecting a needless yellow card 20 minutes later. Added to the booking he incurred against Gibraltar, it triggers a one-match ban. Cancelling out that loss for the Polish, however, is the imminent return of veteran captain Jakub Błaszczykowski from injury.