Keogh is prepared to be thrown in the deep end again

YOU never knew when your name was going to be called in the schoolyard game of Bulldog’s Charge but once it was there was no time to hang about.

You had to be ready to sprint as fast as you could to evade the line of bodies in front which were intent on stopping you from getting past to the other side.

That’s how Martin O’Neill seems to operate with this Ireland team. The players are kept on edge, never fully sure of what his plans are and then… bang. He calls your name in his starting XI and you have just over an hour to until kick-off.

Wednesday’s historic 1-0 victory over Italy was just another case in point, when he offered three players who hadn’t tasted a minute of action in the two previous games a chance to shine.

Daryl Murphy was named up front beside Shane Long, while Shane Duffy was brought into defence alongside Richard Keogh. The latter might have been forgiven for switching off and being caught cold. Having put in some starring performances over the course of the qualifying campaign — Germany at home and the twolegged play-off with Bosnia and Herzegovina stand out — the Derby County captain was left on the bench against Sweden and Belgium but explained why he was never going to get the hump.

‘We are a team and we have a team ethic, and that’s what one of our strengths is. We will be working hard for each other to get a positive result,’ said Keogh (above).

Considering he was the one sitting alongside O’Neill at yesterday afternoon’s pre-match press conference in Lyon, that would suggest he will keep his place against France today.

Ireland will have to contend with the pace of Antoine Griezmann and Kinglsey Coman of Bayern Munich — officially the quickest player at the tournament after clocking up a speed of 32.8 km/h against Switzerland.

However, Dimitri Payet is the one who has made Les Bleus tick and his threat includes free-kicks, which Ireland goalkeeper and West Ham team-mate Darren Randolph will be well aware of.

‘We go over the video analysis of their strengths and weakness and for sure, he’s having a great tournament,’ Keogh acknowledged. ‘He’s proven that with West Ham this year and yes, sure we’ll tap in to Darren’s knowledge of him. He’s obviously worked with him very closely. I don’t think we have got any kind of special plans.’

Ireland supporters will be heavily outnumbered in the 59,000 seater Parc Olympique Lyonnais but that has only reinforced the spirit in the group.

‘Now we are going to be the underdog again — people probably wrote us off in the group and probably didn’t think we would get out of the group, and we’re here now,’ Keogh continued.

‘We have got to take confidence from the game the other day. We have got a great squad, a great togetherness.’

Ireland are ready to charge.