Irish aim to wipe Swiss miss from memory in France

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U21 manager Don Givens is eager to erase from the memory his side’s Swiss miss.

A run of 13 games without defeat came to an end last month when the Republic were beaten 4-2 by Switzerland in Berne.

The result severely dented Ireland’s European Championship qualifying hopes just days after they had confidently began their campaign with an easy 3-0 triumph over Cyprus.

It has since been a long four weeks for Givens, although his task does not become any easier because Ireland take on group favourites France at the Stade de l’Aube in Troyes tonight.

“What we cannot afford is to follow our loss against the Swiss with a loss in France,” assessed Givens.

“But I’ve a good group of players and they won’t need any reminding of what happened in Switzerland.

“One bad result doesn’t make a bad team and just because we conceded four goals, that doesn’t mean anything is wrong. I am confident we will make amends. We’ve a chance to wipe what happened from the memory. If we get a positive result, then the Switzerland game gets forgotten.

“We are a decent side and hopefully, we will put it right. I will be stressing the fact it is vital to get something from this game.”

Although Givens is not fearful of the French, he realises they are a formidable team as he added: “if you asked me now I would take a draw.”

The strength in depth of the French team was underlined in their last match when Gael Clichy, highly rated at Arsenal, was only a substitute in a 1-0 victory over Israel.

“They have a big pool of players to pick from, maybe as much as 10 times more than we have, so they are going to be strong.”

Givens’ problems, though, were compounded this week when U21 all-time leading scorer Stephen Elliott was forced to withdraw from the 18-man squad with an ankle knock, while Sean Thornton is also sidelined with a groin injury.