Irish team use dirty tactics, say Russians

RUSSIA goalkeeper Ruslan Nigmatullin set the tone for Saturday's European Championship home qualifier against Ireland yesterday when he accused Mick McCarthy's side of using "dirty tactics".

"They are a dirty team," Nigmatullin, who played against Ireland in a friendly last February, told Russian reporters at his team's training camp outside Moscow. "They try to hit you in the back, hit you from behind, use their elbows, all that stuff, so we have to be careful," he said.

Alexei Smertin, who will lead his team against Ireland in the group 10 opener in the absence of injured captain Yegor Titov, was equally wary of Ireland's tactics despite not playing in the 2-0 defeat in Dublin.