Red-hot Keane on goal quest

Robbie Keane goes in search of his 60th goal for his country tonight in a rich vein of form, the LA Galaxy striker having been selected by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) as the MLS Player of the Week following his brace in the 3-0 win over San Jose on Saturday.

It was the second time that Keane was named Player of the Week this season — having never previously received the accolade since moving to the States in 2011 — his first award coming after an earlier hat-trick against Real Salt Lake. The striker now has 15 goals in all competitions for LA this year and goes into tonight’s game on the back of a hat-trick against the Faroes in his last competitive outing for his country.

Keane said of tonight’s match at the Aviva: “It’s a game we certainly can’t afford to lose. We’ll be going into the game to try and get the three points but the most important thing is certainly not to lose the game. The two teams are in a similar situation. It’s all ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ but if it’s 0-0 with 25 minutes to play, we’ll be going for three points.

“We’re not going into the game being negative. We’ve been playing the same way for a long time and we go to win every game and that will be the case again.”

Asked why Ireland’s home record has not been as consistent as their away form, the skipper admitted: “I’m not too sure. It’s not something in the squad the players talk about.

“We go into every game wanting to win.”