Belief key factor, says Kilbane

By Darren Norris

Monday, September 07, 2009

KEVIN KILBANE says belief was the key factor behind the Republic of Ireland’s vital World Cup Group 8 qualifier win against Cyprus in Nicosia on Saturday.

Kilbane, who could win his 100th cap in next month’s mouth-watering clash with Italy if he plays in tomorrow night’s friendly against South Africa, said it was an increased sense of confidence that saw Giovanni Trapattoni’s side claim what could prove a priceless victory.

‘‘There’s definitely a feeling now that we are capable of getting results away from home as well as in the home games,’’ the Hull City full-back insisted yesterday.

‘‘We’ve gone away and got a big result when in the past that’s not happened to us in the last few campaigns. I think we can play better but in recent times we’ve gone away from home and we’ve dropped points. On Saturday night we were solid and we produced the goods on the night and that was very pleasing.

‘‘The belief is there now and I think that’s been the key thing throughout this campaign. We feel as though we can go away and get results wherever we are now.

‘‘In this campaign we started off very well and I think we’ve just gone on from there together really. There’s a lot of players who have grown throughout this campaign.’’

Kilbane added: ‘‘Italy at home is certainly one that we can win. We gave a good performance out in Bari when we played them earlier on in the campaign so I don’t think we need to fear them.

"We need to go out and play our usual stuff at Croke Park and hopefully it will be enough to get us a good win. We’ll see where it takes us from there."

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, September 07, 2009