The voice of experience

Standing before us inside the warmth of the groundsman’s hut in Gannon Park, woolly hat still on his head as a protective against the raw east wind which swept across the training ground yesterday, John O’Shea personified the Irish old guard in a period of transition.

In his area of the pitch, the stats say it all, the Waterford man’s 86th cap in Stockholm easily eclipsing the rest of the back five’s combined total of a mere 24, comprising David Forde (six), Seamus Coleman (nine), Ciarán Clark (five) and Marc Wilson (four). And as you’d expect from a comparative greybeard, O’Shea wasn’t getting carried away by the upturn in Ireland’s fortunes as a result of Friday’s scoreless draw in Sweden.

“Generally positive but also cautious because we know there’s a big job to be done yet,” was how he summed up the mood in the camp, agreeing it would require a maximum return of three points from the game against Austria tomorrow night if Ireland are to make the most of that well-earned point in Stockholm.