Givens looking ahead after Berne flop

Mark Gallagher

France in Troyes are next on the agenda and Givens is under no illusions as to how difficult the task is going to be. “We might have 32 players to pick from, they have around 300. France is a massive country with a massive pick,” the manager said.

Last month in Switzerland was a bitter pill for Givens and his side to swallow. Having stitched together an impressive unbeaten run - based around solid defending - everything went awry as the Irish defence just collapsed.

“In one way, it might be a good thing that the unbeaten record is gone. It was being used a lot, put the lads under pressure. I know the Swiss manager used it as motivation before we played them, getting his side fired up to play us.

“I would like to think Berne was just a bad day at the office. Before that game, things had been going well. We had been defending very well. And that is something we need to do against the French. We need to keep our concentration levels up, because this is going to be a big task for the team.”

Givens says he isn’t being defeatist in talking about the French, simply being realistic. And of course, this week, he has suffered the terrible blow of Stephen Elliot’s absence. Given the rich vein of form he is displaying at Sunderland, Elliot would have troubled the French defence.

“When you are sitting on the bench, you always know there is a possibility that Stephen is going to do something, you have that confidence in him. He is always likely to come up with a goal. In the last game, he broke the record but of course couldn’t celebrate the goal.

“We are going to have do without him, which is something we might have to do soon anyway, if his form continues the way it is.” Is the possibility of Elliot getting called up to the seniors sooner rather than later a concern?

“He mightn’t be experienced enough yet. He has only played about seven games for Sunderland, and barely got a look-in when he was at Man City. But, he definitely has the potential to go all the way, particularly as we are not over-burdened with goal-scorers at the moment.”

Willo Flood, a fellow starlet at the Maine Road youth academy, recently made a Premiership appearance off the bench against Arsenal - something that has heartened Givens.

“It has been a long time coming for Willo and I am glad he has made a couple of appearances for City, and he scored that goal against Barnsley, which will do his confidence no harm. There is no doubt that Willo has all the technical gifts, but I would like to see him fill out a bit physically.

“When you look at the French side, they are all big physical lads. Even if you look at the youngsters who are playing with Arsenal now, and that is what we are competing against at this stage.

“But, I still think we can re-capture the form we were showing before the Swiss game. I am still willing to put that down to a bad day at the office. We still have a lot to work with.”

Of course, the French have even more. Apart from the Arsenal starlet Gael Clichy, they also include Bologna’s latest star Merud Meghni who scored twice against Roma last weekend. Interestingly, and in an illustration of the depth of talent at their disposal, neither started their last game against Israel, both being sprung from the bench.

Former Liverpool striker Anthony Le Tallec scored the solitary goal of that game in which the French, despite their vast potential, looked decidedly unimpressive. However, the St Etienne striker is not in the squad, this time out.