Martin has no worries over facing off against Irish hero
For russell Martin, the prospect of facing all - t i me r ecord republic of Ireland goalscorer robbie Keane i s not enough to reduce him to a quivering wreck.
Not when past international outings have seen him lock horns with Germany’s prolific Thomas Muller, Poland’s deadly robert Lewandowski and England sharpshooter Wayne rooney.
At club level, the Norwich City centre-half has previous experience of shackling Luis Suarez — when the Uruguay and Barcelona superstar was at Liverpool — and is looking forward to getting his teeth into the likes of Sergio Aguero of Manchester City next season after the Carrow road side’s Play-off Final win over Middlesbrough at Wembley last month.
So, while he respects Keane, now at LA Galaxy, Martin views the prospect of Ireland boss Martin o’Neill turning to the forward with 65 goals in 139 international appearances as merely another test.
‘When you play at this level, all of the teams have top quality strikers,’ said Martin.
‘Ireland are no different with Jon Walters, Shane Long, Daryl Murphy and Keane. Fortunately I’m going back to the English Premier League next season with Norwich and I am looking to test myself against more top quality strikers.
‘So Saturday at the Aviva Stadium will be no different. Has Keane lost a bit of pace? They always say the first yard is in your head, pretty much.
‘He is still a very talented player, one who is clever with his movement.
‘ I don’t think I’ve played against him before but, if he does play, it’s a contest I’m looking forward to.’
Should o’Neill dispense with caution and play two up front, there could be a fifth encounter of the season between Martin and Murphy.
The Ipswich striker was the top scorer i n the English Championship last season, with 27 goals, and he was a handful against England in last Sunday’s friendly draw in Dublin. But Martin has faced the former Celtic forward four times this season and Murphy is yet to score.
‘If Daryl plays, that experience might be an advantage for me,’ added Martin.
‘He did brilliantly for Ipswich this season, but we played them four times and we did oK against him.
‘The manager will decide how we approach the game, but I know Daryl’s strengths and weaknesses f r om playing against him this season.
‘We’re going to have to be aware for 90 minutes because Ireland have scored a lot of late goals in the campaign and they almost nicked one late on against us in Glasgow.
‘That is testament to their fitness levels and character under Martin o’Neill and roy Keane. We’ll be ready for them.’
If Martin, as expected, is j oined by Celtic’s Charlie Mulgrew in t he heart of defence, he believes it will make for an effective pairing, despite a lack of competitive minutes together.
‘Charlie is a big boy and a good athlete, so he can slot in anywhere,’ said Martin.
‘We played briefly together in the friendly against England at Celtic Park, where we were up against Wayne rooney, so it doesn’t get much tougher.
‘I’ve also played lots of times with him in training, so if we were asked to play again it won’t be a problem.’
Martin will not be complaining if he does not see his Norwich team-mate, Wes Hoolahan, in the Ireland starting line-up tomorrow evening.
Former Celtic boss o’Neill has been castigated in Ireland f or suggesting Hoolahan’s worth lies in home matches, with a more defensive set-up in away games not suitable to the former Livingston man’s attacking instincts.
Such a view saw Irish media pundit Eamon Dunphy this week demand o’Neill be fired, saying: ‘ He’s talked stupidly about Wes Hoolahan. He (o’Neill) got to a UEFA Cup Final with a (Celtic) team that overachieved, but if you’re humming and hawing in public about Wes, that’s outrageous. I’d sack him for that.’
Martin admits his friend’s international exclusion has surprised him, but he vowed to help Gordon Strachan prepare to stop Hoolahan i f he is unleashed at the Aviva.
‘Wes is a gifted footballer,’ added Martin. ‘on his day, he’s a special player and different to anything else Ireland have in their squad.
‘If Wes does play, he will be one to look out for and we will need to make sure we do a job on him. Even if he only comes on for 20 or 30 minutes, he is always capable of making something happen.
‘We have to make sure we are alert to him and I’m sure the manager might ask Steven Whittaker and myself a bit more about Wes because we know him from Norwich. If so, we will give the gaffer all the information we can.
‘But with the kind of midfield players we’ve got, we are more than capable of dealing with his threat. We’ve got players l i ke Scott Brown, James Morrison and Darren Fletcher — and Charlie Mulgrew was outstanding against Ireland in Glasgow last November.
‘I’m looking forward to the game. I think it is going to be as intense as any game I’ve played this season. We will be right up for it again.’