Keogh calls on Irish to whip up storm in Cardiff

ROI V WALES

RICHARD Keogh has urged the Republic of Ireland to ensure Wales walk into a storm as they attempt to gain revenge for their Nations League humbling in Cardiff.

Ireland found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline when the sides met in Welsh boss Ryan Giggs’ first competitive game in charge last month, meaning tomorrow’s return at the Aviva Stadium was always going to have an edge.

However, the game will now have added significance with Ireland having belatedly opened their Nations League account with a point from Saturday’s attritional 0-0 home draw with Denmark, a performance and a result which did little to appease manager Martin O’Neill’s critics.

Keogh, who played in a 1-1 friendly draw in Poland five days after the debacle in Cardiff, said: “We know it’s going to be another tough game. We didn’t have a great result there, but after the Poland performance and this performance, I think there’s a lot to build on.

“We’ll recover now and we know we’ve got to have another big effort on Tuesday night. They’ll obviously come here to try and win the game, but we’re at home so we’ve got to make sure we make the atmosphere like it was tonight and we’ve got to get around them.

“We’ve got to put them under pressure a bit and have more moments like we did tonight.”

Meanwhile, Gareth Bale returned to Real Madrid yesterday and will miss the Ireland game.

A groin injury has reduced Bale’s playing time for Real in recent weeks and he missed Wales’ 4-1 loss to Spain in Cardiff on Thursday.