O’Dea: It’s time a few of us stood up

For one seen mainly as an understudy, Darren O’Dea has featured in a few big productions on the international stage.

Not easy nights, by any means, but ones which certainly worked out alright in the end — think Moscow and Astana for a start.

Now, with Richard Dunne and Sean St Ledger both unavailable, the FC Toronto man must step up to the plate again, partnering John O’Shea in the heart of an Irish defence which can expect to be asked some searching questions by Germany at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night.

“I’ve played with Sheasy a few times, it’s not a problem,” O’Dea said.

“I think I have 16 caps at this stage and I don’t think I’ve played more than three times with any central defender so it’s really not a big deal. He has a wealth of experience. He’s played at the top level throughout his career. But any player that’s been in this squad knows what’s expected.

“Eighteen months ago, we had a run of eight clean sheets and if you look at the back four that were used, they were all different. We know from the manager what jobs we have to do. It doesn’t make a difference who goes in there. You could get a central midfielder to go in there and he’d know what to do. As I said, it’s not a big deal.”

Still, O’Dea doesn’t deny that, with the changes in the Irish squad since the Euros and the impact of injuries on the panel for Friday’s game, the onus of responsibility is having to be shared by the rising generation.

“There’s been lads who have carried the team for a long time,” he conceded. “A couple of them have stepped away and a couple are injured. It’s time now for others to start taking responsibility in the team. Of course, we still have Dunney to come back and it’s still important we’ve people like Keano around. Duffer, Shay, Dunney and other players have been fantastic but they’ve carried the responsibility in the team — when things go right they get most of the credit and when it goes wrong they take most of the flak. It’s time other players took responsibility.”

“I don’t think I’m in anyway a senior player yet. I’m 25, I think I’m still probably the youngest defender around, although obviously Seamus (Coleman) is coming up as well. But, yeah, responsibility, it’s down to all 11 players, you don’t leave it to one or two. It’s time a few of us stood up now.”

And if he needs added inspiration, he can always recall to a famous day in Ibaraki when Ireland bucked the odds to snatch a draw against Germany at the finals of the World Cup.

“Good memories,” the Dubliner smiles. “I was doing my Junior Cert (at Clonkeen College) and, needless to say you could hear the roars in the street when Robbie scored. We all knew something had happened. I couldn’t wait to finish up and get out.”