O’Neill taking nothing for granted

Plan A for Ireland against Gibraltar on Saturday is pretty straightforward: impose their obvious superiority on the minnows, score early (and hopefully often) and bank the three points before flying out to Germany the following day.

But there’s also a Plan B, to be put in effect if the game doesn’t go according to script, if Gibraltar prove a tougher nut than expected to crack, the early goal fails to arrive and there’s a danger the crowd’s growing anxiety will transmit itself to the players.

And in that nightmare scenario, Martin O’Neill will be preaching the virtues of patience to his team.