Kinsella: pain of earlier defeats will be the spur

THE enduring pain of losses to Russia and Switzerland represents the perfect incentive for Ireland to recover their World Cup bravado when they play Georgia and Albania over the next week, believes Mark Kinsella.

The Aston Villa midfielder was one of the many stars who shone in Japan and South Korea but he admitted yesterday that too many of Ireland’s players have failed to match those standards in the Euro 2004 qualifiers.

“We started badly after having been successful in the World Cup. We had a great game in the friendly against Finland and then we didn’t show up basically against Russia and Switzerland; they didn’t have to do a lot to beat us.