We’ve nothing to fear, says Dunne

SLOVAKIA may have dented Irish qualification hopes by claiming a draw in Dublin last Friday but Richard Dunne is using Vladimir Weiss’ side as inspiration ahead of the Republic’s latest crucial showdown, in Moscow, today.

Russia had been beaten at home just twice in a dozen years — by France and Germany — before the Slovaks executed their hit-and-run at the Lokomotiv Stadium last September, soaking up an abundance of pressure and stealing a 1-0 win through Miroslav Stoch’s strike.

Though Dick Advocaat’s side was entitled to feel hard done by, the group’s top seeds have failed to impress aside from their trip to Dublin late last year, especially in a pair of 1-0 wins against Macedonia and a 0-0 stalemate against Armenia in Yerevan.