Gresko happy Slovak’s can take advantage of dismal conditions

IRELAND may feel perfectly at home in Bratislava this week given the miserable weather but Slovakia captain Vratislav Gresko is confident the hosts can use the heavy downpours to their advantage.

Bratislava has been saturated by incessant rain since the team’s arrival on Thursday evening and though the forecast suggests we will see some intermittent sunshine between the dark clouds today, the damage seems to have been done as far as the pitch is concerned.

“We are not used to such conditions,” admitted Bayer Leverkusen’s Gresko. “The last match we played in such weather was the World Cup qualifier against Spain. I feel it will be a football match for the first 15 or 20 minutes but that it will be a battle after that. I feel we could be faster than the Irish team on that type of terrain.”