But Keane has plans to deflate the Scotland feelgood factor
ROY KEANE has set his sights on sending Scotland home from Dublin having shattered the feelgood factor of Gordon Strachan’s reign. The Republic of Ireland assistant manager expects Strachan’s side to approach tomorrow’s crucial Euro 2016 qualifier with confidence after winning the corresponding fixture in Glasgow last November. That helped Scotland create their two-point advantage over the Irish in Group D and accelerated the progress made under the former Celtic manager. Keane, though, believes Ireland are ready to deflate the Tartan Army’s
AMID preparations t hat have been beset by so many off-field issues, the Republic of Ireland squad has now been touched by true tragedy ahead of their meeting with Scotland.
It has emerged that a workman killed on Wednesday while carrying out maintenance on a sewer in a Dublin suburb — father-of-two Alan Harris — was a cousin of record cap holder and goalscorer Robbie Keane.
Harris was working alongside his brother Stephen, who was seriously injured. Both men are thought to have been overcome by fumes as they worked six metres underground.
The dreadful accident occurred in Portmarnock, just a couple of miles along the road from the Irish training base in Malahide.
Keane is reported to have taken team-mates inside to inform them of what had happened, but he joined the rest of the squad in a training session yesterday as the build-up to Saturday’s Euro 2016 qualifier intensified.
The Irish camp have previously had to contend with the furore surrounding FAI chief executive John Delaney’s admission that his organisation had accepted a £3.6million pay- off from FIFA to end any thought of legal action over Thierry Henry’s handball in 2009. Then, earlier t his week, t he Republic’s management team emerged without serious injury f rom a car crash on the M50 motorway outside Dublin.
The grief that has now afflicted Keane’s family provides a far more sombre note within the prelude to Scotland’s visit.
The 34- year- old LA Galaxy forward has scored 65 goals in 139 appearances for his country to attain l egendary status. And assistant manager Roy Keane insisted yesterday that he could still have a key role to play against Gordon Strachan’s side.
‘Robbie has trained today and he’s a top professional player,’ said the former Manchester United and Celtic midfielder. ‘He’ll get on with the job and if he starts on Saturday I’m sure he won’t let us down.
‘From a physical point of view, he’s trying to get up to match s peed. He’s only pl ayed 90 minutes once in the last couple of months which is not ideal. But for every international match, there is a situation with players who are lacking match-time and that would be the problem for Robbie.
‘He’s an experienced player and we’d have to gauge him. He’d be pretty honest about where he is physically and whether he can start the game or not.
‘He’s trained fine and he’s had to deal with a lot but as you know with Robbie, it doesn’t seem to affect him when he gets out on that pitch.’
The veteran frontman has also been carrying a groin problem, limiting his game time in the MLS.
‘The way Robbie’s trained the last one or two days has been fine,’ added Keane. ‘The big issue, of course, is match fitness. It’s up for the manager to decide that one.’
The goalscoring edge provided by the one-time Celtic loanee was highlighted by Republic boss Martin O’Neill as a potential key to overcoming Scotland following Ireland’s distinctly drab friendly draw against England last Sunday.
And assistant Keane emphasised yesterday that it might just take one moment of ‘quality’ to settle what he expects to be another edgy encounter between the nations.
Scotland helped create their current two-point lead over the Irish by digging out a 1-0 victory in Glasgow last November. As all Tartan Army members will recall, the decisive moment came from Shaun Maloney after a well-worked set-piece move.
‘ I don’t think there’s much between the two teams,’ insisted Keane. ‘You look at the profiles of the players, the squads. I’d just hope on t he day t hat home advantage would help. A bit of luck would be nice to get the result.
‘The mindset always has to be about the next game. Can we put right the few mistakes we made up in Scotland? It will be a tight game but can we find the quality to decide it?
‘The lads have done OK in the last week or two. Obviously, there has been a big build up to this game and we are just trying to make sure we peak at the right time. We don’t want to overcook the players because they have had a long, tough season.
‘We want them to give another big effort on Saturday when we’ll have a big support behind us. It’s an important game in terms of the points available. From what I’ve seen, we’ll be ready for it. But the proof is in the pudding.
‘We have a good mix. We have good experienced players — Robbie Keane, Shay Given, John O’Shea, Glenn Whelan — all these boys know the score. We also have a lot of energy from the younger boys.
‘I don’t think there will be any question marks after the game about players’ desire and effort. We’ll have all that — it’s just one or two of the players producing that bit of quality that will win the game. Just like Scotland produced in the last game.’