Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CONFIDENT HE’LL KEEP DARR SHUT
DARREN RANDOLPH’S heroics in Copenhagen have kept the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup hunt.
But Cyrus Christie wasn’t remotely surprised that the Middlesbrough man pulled off a series of stunning saves – as he sees it every day of the week.
Christie is a club-mate of the big goalkeeper and knows he can be relied upon when the heat is on.
Randolph made a vital point blank save to deny Yussuf Poulsen in injury-time and also shut out Jens Stryger Larsen and Andreas Cornelius in quick succession early on
And Christie gushed: “He’s had a great season so far for club and country, he’s a magnificent keeper and I see it every day.
“You’re full of confidence when you see a player like him in there.
“He’s been fantastic and doesn’t get the praise he deserves. I think he’s getting better and better.”
And ahead of tomorrow’s shootout, Christie admits it is a significant boost that the yellow card suspension tightrope no longer applies.
Ten of Martin O’neill’s (below) squad – nine of whom played in Copenhagen – were a booking away from missing the second-leg.
Christie was one of them but recalled: “It can’t cross your mind. You can’t focus on not getting yellows because anything can happen in a game.
“The referee did really well in the game. He let the game flow and didn’t give any silly bookings.
“We kept our heads, we didn’t make any stupid tackles and now we’ve nobody missing for the next game. It’s a real positive because you want a full bill of health.”