Morrison has a score to settle

CLINTON MORRISON will have more incentive than most to beat Switzerland tomorrow night in Basel, because he claimed he had to endure a racist insult during the European Championship qualifier there in November.

Morrison, whose goal against Cyprus on Saturday helped Ireland get their World Cup qualifying tournament off to a successful start, claimed Swiss striker Alexander Frei insulted him.

But Frei, who plays with Rennes and will miss the game because of suspension, yesterday denied insulting the Irish striker.

He said: “All I can say is that at Rennes I work with about 15 coloured players and that I have never had the slightest problem with any of them. It is easy to make these accusations. For instance it is possible that a player I played with many years ago will say that I once threw a bottle at him; who knows ?”

Morrison said he did not want to make a big fuss about the issue, but he was keen to score and to beat the Swiss to gain a measure of satisfaction for the incident. Frei is serving a three-match suspension from the European Championship finals. He was banned when accused of spitting at Steven Gerrard when Switzerland played England.

It will be recalled that Frei angered another Irish player when he ran to the Irish bench to celebrate scoring against Ireland in Basle. Ireland’s substitute, Mark Kinsella, was so incensed that he threw a water bottle.

Said Morrison: “Alex Frei misses our game does he? Well I am a bit disappointed because he made a remark to me in the game, which I owe him one for. It was like a racist remark. I don’t really want to repeat it. I just keep it to myself. He said it on the pitch which I went mad about.”

Morrison’s goal against Cyprus was his first in ten matches. He admitted that his failure to score over the past 12 months was playing on his mind. “It has been difficult. It has been at the back of my mind. I’m just pleased to have got the goal. I was a bit unlucky with a few others which I should have put away but I hadn’t had any football for the previous two weeks.

“Since I got injured against Bulgaria, I haven’t been playing or even training with Birmingham so I was pleased to get 80 minutes under my belt. I felt good.

“Obviously, I would have liked to have taken the other chances but once I am getting into those positions, I am not going to worry too much.”

It remains to be seen whether Morrison will retain his place in the team. He was replaced by Alan Lee with ten minutes left and manager Brian Kerr admitted he had intended to make other changes up front when Ireland built their lead against Cyprus to three.

He was prevented from doing so by the desire of both full-backs to leave the pitch. Stephen Carr was suffering the after-effects of a stomach upset and John O’Shea was impeded by a knee injury.

Now Kerr is ready to bring Roy Keane into the team so at least one change will be made for tomorrow’s match. He could make a direct swap and leave out Graham Kavanagh, alternatively he could switch Damien Duff up front to partner Robbie Keane.

Morrison takes great pride in his international appearances and is desperately keen to retain his spot. He looks upon it as a means also of convincing his club manager, Steve Bruce, that he should be first choice.

“I ain’t bothered about Birmingham signing Dwight Yorke. I knew that he was coming. The manager had spoken to me about it and explained that he wanted four quality strikers at the club.

“I have got to battle but if I keep performing and doing well for Ireland - which is my main aim at the moment - the manager will know about it and I will have proved that I am good enough to be in the team.”

Morrison spoke of the confidence in the team that they can win this group ahead of France, Switzerland, Cyprus and the Faroe Islands and he stressed the need for Ireland to secure a positive result in Basel.

“They did us last year in the European Championships. There were a lot of things going on in the game which weren’t nice. We owe them one and, hopefully, we can take the form we showed against Cyprus forward and get another win.”

One of the most exciting developments within the squad, he suggested, was the arrival of Andy Reid on the scene and Morrison spoke of the excitement he felt when he was picked to play alongside Reid and Damien Duff.

“Both wingers are absolutely brilliant. I can’t believe Andy Reid is still at Notts Forest but his time will come. He will move eventually. He is a top talent. What a goal he scored. Then you have Damien Duff. I can’t believe he cannot get into the Chelsea side when he is playing like that. But he will be back in soon.”