In safe hands with Given

DON’T expect the floodgates to open in Croke Park on Saturday night. Not if Shay Given is anyone to go by.

The Irish keeper is, naturally enough, planning on keeping a clean sheet in the first leg of the World Cup qualifier against the French but he wouldn’t be overly disappointed if his opposite number managed something similar.

“We’ve got to keep it tight in the first leg,” the Irish goalkeeper told FIFA’s website yesterday. “It’s important that we don’t concede. It won’t be easy against such quality strikers, but our defenders are capable of stopping them. It will be a tight game, so hopefully we can take our chances.