‘I have absolutely no doubt that next summer we will be in Poland and Ukraine’

DARREN O’DEA played no part in last Friday’s bore draw with Slovakia but the defender gave a scintillating performance over the weekend when he faced a media corps that had just lambasted Giovanni Trapattoni and his team.

The Dubliner shrugged off criticism of the Republic of Ireland’s performance and its style, dismissed concerns about the 4-4-2 formation and declared unequivocally that the Republic of Ireland will be competing at Euro 2012 next summer.

It was an impressive display of confidence given events at the Aviva Stadium and the audience with which he was faced and one that struck a bullish note ahead of tomorrow’s task at the Luzhniki Stadium, even if it was difficult to share such optimism.