Dunne vows to learn harsh lessons

RICHARD DUNNE, whose early football career was pock-marked with erratic off-pitch behaviour, knows how to turn a situation around.

The Dubliner was almost fired by then Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan for a series of disciplinary incidents after a move from Everton but Dunne knuckled down and bounced back to become a much-respected club captain before his move to Aston Villa this summer.

Now the centre-half, who has yet to appear at a major international tournament, says he and his team-mates can navigate this latest detour on the road to South Africa.

“They had a lot of ball and movement and nice passes and knocking it about without doing too much. They had a few shots from outside the box and it’s difficult to get the ball of them at times but every time the ball went in their own box they looked like they were panicking,’’ he said.

“So maybe we’ll have to play a little higher up the pitch, get a few more set-pieces and take advantage of them.

“We’re a goal down but we have to be confident we can go there on Wednesday and cause some trouble for them.’’

The defender’s frustration at the result was evident when an apparent slight from French midfielder Lassana Diarra at the final whistle resulted in what Michael O’Hehir, if he was still in the Croke Park gantry, would’ve described as a ‘shemozzle’.

Though manager Giovanni Trapattoni said he would talk of the ‘sin, not the sinner’ and refused to point the finger at the Real Madrid midfielder, Dunne attempted to play down the incident.

“It was just one of those things, it just stays on the pitch and that’s it,” he said.

Meanwhile Shay Given summed up the mood of the nation by describing Nicolas Anelka’s deflected goal off Sean St Ledger as a “kick in the teeth”.

However, the Manchester City goalkeeper is maintaining a brave front and is adamant that qualification for the World Cup finals is not yet beyond this Irish team.

“We’re disappointed and they had a bit of luck with the goal as well, so that’s a kick in the teeth, to be honest. It could have deflected off the post and come back but it wasn’t to be. But do you feel sorry for yourself? Or do you get your head down? For Wednesday, we have to go for it. We had to score a goal in the two legs and that’s the same now. We still have to do that.

“We are disappointed but sport is all about the next game and we still have a great chance of going through. We still have to believe that.”

On the goal, Given said: “It was unfortunate, to be honest. Sean (St Ledger) just tried to get a block on it, it could have deflected anywhere, even hit the post, but they had the rub of the green and it’s gone inside the post. It’s unfortunate.”

On Ireland’s hopes of mounting a comeback, Given added: “We had to score in the two legs to go through and that hasn’t changed.

“We have to believe we can still do it. In sport you have another chance and that’s on Wednesday. It’s a great chance for us. They are big favourites, which they were before tonight, even more so now. But I’m quietly confident that we can go there and get something.”