Cometh the Hour ...for Irish

Republic of Ireland v Denmark Tomorrow, 7.45pm

CONOR HOURIHANE hopes a non-stop search for improvement has put him back in the frame for tomorrow’s winner-takes-all clash with Denmark.

If he plays, the 28-year-old won’t afford himself a moment to smell the roses in front of a sell-out Aviva after the sheer graft of making it to within one win of Euro 2020 qualification.

“I’m all about the hard work in this qualification campaign and the hard work down through the years,” said Hourihane (above).

“And it definitely won’t be a piece of p*** on Monday, if you want to quote that.

“Denmark are a very, very good side, we’ll probably go in as underdogs and, hopefully, that might suit us.”

Hourihane puts his progress from Barnsley in League Two to the Premier League with Aston Villa down to an indefatigable appetite for work.

He describes himself as his own toughest critic – and the Cork man instantly knew why he was dropped for Ireland’s last qualifier, the 2-0 loss in Switzerland.

“I was poor against Georgia, I thought,” said Hourihane, reflecting on the scoreless draw in Tbilisi.

“And I think a few of the lads would agree we probably weren’t at our best.

“It was just one of those days, but we came away with a vital point and it’s a cup final now against Denmark.”

Most of those who will be involved didn’t feature in the 3-1 warm-up win against New Zealand on Thursday.

But Hourihane was delighted that Mick Mccarthy gave him half an hour in the engine room, looking on his run-out as another chance to press his credentials.

“I wanted to get on,” Hourihane stressed. “I love playing for my country. Another cap, fantastic.

“Mick has always been good to me from that point of view. Whenever I play, I try to put in a performance to repay that faith.

“It was an opportunity for lads to stake a claim on Thursday night.

“The gaffer will decide if someone has done enough, but every game is an opportunity to shine.

“It’s good to get another victory for the feelgood factor, going into Monday. We had a job to do because, if we didn’t win, the lads wouldn’t be happy.

“We had to be professional, it was job done well and the lads scored well-taken goals.”