Dunne: Ireland can still qualify

ALL going according to plan, the Irish defence won’t be hogging the headlines tonight but that doesn’t mean that Richard Dunne will be anything less than fully focused for the 90 minutes in Serravalle.

For a guy who travelled to the World Cup finals in Japan and Korea but never got to kick a ball in anger, qualification for a big tournament in two years’ time remains a desirable goal, regardless of the scepticism of critics who believe that Ireland can only ever hope to play catch-up in Group D. The Man City defender thinks differently. Qualification is still on, he maintains, but only if the Irish kick off their 2007 campaign in the right frame of mind. And then kick on from there.

“We’ve got three big games now and it’s vital that we get the nine points from them,” he says. “People might look at tonight’s game as a bit of a formality but it’s a potential banana skin. Some day San Marino will improve and start picking up points here and there and it’s important tonight that we get stuck into them and hopefully get an early goal and get the three points.”

Dunne’s determination may be judged by the fact that he is playing through a recurring ankle problem.

“Two or three weeks ago I got a kick on it so I’ve been taking the early part of each week off to rest it,” he explains. “It’s been swelling up after training and probably really needs complete rest but it’s nothing serious and I’ll be fine for the game.”

Dunne is one of six Irish players who go into tonight’s match on yellow cards, the others being Stephen Ireland, Robbie Keane, John O’ Shea, Kevin Kilbane and Lee Carsley. The 26-year-old is philosophical about the risks.

“You’ve just got to do the job as you normally would and if you get a yellow card, you get a yellow card,” he says. “Like if it means you’re saving a goal, then you’d take it. Certainly it would be disappointing for any of us to miss out on playing the first game in Croke Park. But I think, as a squad, we’ve got players now to cover all positions.”

Coupled with his own niggling injury, Paul McShane’s full-blooded attitude to the game means he is one yellow card offender who won’t be walking the line tonight. Having replaced the suspended Dunne for the game against the Czech Republic and then partnered the Dubliner for the home game against San Marino, the Wicklow boy has already made a big impression on his fellow defender.

“Paul did very well against the Czechs,” says Dunne. “It was a tough game to come into, after the defeat in Cyprus. Plus he was marking Jan Koller, who has been around for a long time. But Paul came in and did everything right, played a blinder and has kept his place in the squad.

.”

McShane’s day will come again but, tonight, another debut boy could grab the headlines. Richard Dunne only came up against Reading’s Shane Long last Saturday and isn’t in the least surprised that the striker has been promoted to the senior ranks so swiftly.

“He’s got very good pace,” says Dunne. “And he’s already shown what he can do in the Premiership.”