Republic of Ireland captain Nathan Collins says there was no panic in the Ireland dressingroom at half-time against Armenia despite their World Cup qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
The sending off of Armenian captain Tigran Barseghyan early in the second half changed the complexion of the contest at the Aviva Stadium, with Ireland grinding out a 1-0 win.
There had been noticeable boos emanating from sections of the ground at the half-time whistle but Collins says the players were confident that by sticking to their game plan they would find a way to break the visitors down.
“I thought defensively we were very good. I think they had one chance in the first half on the counter-attack but other than that I thought we were in control of it,” said Collins.
RM Block
“Our defensive block worked well. We probably wanted to press a bit higher. (At half-time) I think we knew we could do more, I think we were probably a little bit too deep, and that was probably a rollover of Portugal, maybe. We wanted to press higher. I thought we did that at the start of the second half.
“I understand the fans want us to be front foot and on it all the time but sometimes the best thing is just to be solid. I thought we’d done that in the first half.”
Collins praised the combative approach of Séamus Coleman – who bundled over Armenian goalkeeper Henri Avagyan with a late collision at the start of the second half, an incident that energised the home crowd.
“Séamus lit it up a bit, he got us going. He had a big tackle, it changes everything when the fans get behind you. They get riled up, it puts more pressure on them and maybe the emotions got the better of the Armenians and that can happen.
“Listen, it’s not really us that changes, it’s the fans that can change. Something little like Séamus doing it can change everything.”
It wasn’t pretty against Armenia but in terms of what Ireland needed, it was at least mission accomplished. However, Hungary’s draw with Portugal on Tuesday was the unexpected fly in the ointment.
Ireland now almost certainly need to get something from their home fixture against Portugal on November 13th. Should Hungary beat Armenia and Ireland lose to Portugal, then it’s curtains even before Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team step on a plane to Budapest.
“When you bring Portugal to the Aviva, I think the aim is to win the game no matter what,” added Collins.
“Hungary away, the last game of the campaign, anything can happen. But Portugal at home, it’s going to be an exciting game.
“I’m comfortable enough with big teams coming here. I think we can perform against them. I think the fans get excited for it, I think it’s a great challenge.
“When the fans are on it, it’s tough for any team. We’ve seen it before, we’ve seen how big teams come here and they struggle with it. Their support is immense. When they’re with us, you really feel like you can’t be beaten.”
Ryan Manning and Jayson Molumby will miss the game through suspension but Collins believes the set-up has sufficient depth to deal with such losses.
“I think we have a decent squad. We have players that can come in. We missed Josh Cullen tonight, so he comes back in. I think Jayson’s been unbelievable the last few games, he’s been unreal. Ryan as well, defensively and going forward he’s very good. We will miss him, but we’ll have players to come in.”
