Martin O’Neill: England game an appetiser to main event

Martin O’Neill is hoping that changed times will mean England’s visit to the Aviva Stadium on Sunday will be a very different kind of experience to the last sighting of the Three Lions at Lansdowne Road.

But, as the Irish squad began their preparations at a wet and windy Gannon Park yesterday, the manager was not about to lose sight of how even this high-profile friendly is still only a stepping stone to the real goal of beating Scotland in a vital European Championship the following week.

“It’s 20 years ago since the last debacle,” said the Ireland manager. “I call it a debacle because that’s exactly what it was. Hopefully life has moved on since then and of course it’s a big game and obviously has historic interest.”

The FAI yesterday revealed that ‘God Save The Queen’ will be performed before kick-off by the Island Of Ireland Peace Choir which was originally formed after the 1998 Omagh bombing and which comprises members from Omagh and Waterford.

And while the universal hope, shared by O’Neill, is that the riot of 1995 will be replaced by something altogether closer to peace and harmony in 2015, the Ireland manager will also be keen to extract a practical football dividend from the meeting with our near neighbours and old rivals.

“It’s a great game for us to be involved in and I’ve said that since it’s been announced, really great, as we have a game against Scotland the following week and, barring injury, it will be great preparation for us considering some of the players will not have played for about a month and fitness — whatever you think and how well they are looking after themselves— will drop a little.

“So that’s what this week is about: Building up to the England game and then forcing it against Scotland. Scotland is a big match. Essentially we have to win the game to keep ourselves right in it. And that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

But first, there might be a bit of morale-building required, considering that so many members of the current squad ended their club seasons on a depressing note — think Aston Villa, Hull, Ipswich, Derby County, Wigan, and Millwall for a start.

O’Neill revealed that he has already spoken with his Irish contingent at relegated Hull. ”Obviously, they are disappointed,” he said. “They won two games, against Crystal Palace and Liverpool, and they’d given themselves a great chance of staying up. But they blew it against Burnley. They have suffered the consequences and it takes a wee while to get over that.

“It’s not as if to say, from a selfish viewpoint, that they’re just going to forget about that, but these are important games for us now coming up so I don’t think they’re going to just stay dwelling on it. These are important games for their country so I think that they can lift themselves. Naturally, you’d prefer as many players as possible plying their trade at the very top level. But there’s not you can do about it. It’s not that big a problem.”

Even the second coming of Shay Given has had a sting its tail: Arsenal’s 4-0 FA Cup final defeat of Aston Villa, on top of Southampton’s 6-1 demolition of Tim Sherwood’s men in the Premier League, means the veteran keeper conceded 10 goals in two games.

“I spoke with Shay,” said O’Neill. “It’s very obvious that they were second-best over the weekend, well and truly beaten in the match, and there were a lot of below-par performances in the game. So he’s disappointed for the supporters and for just about everyone involved in the club because they didn’t perform. But he’s played a number of matches before the end of the season so from that point of view he’s fine.”

Paul McShane, still protecting the gash on his leg inflicted by Marouane Fellaini, was the sole squad member not to train yesterday, although a number of players were only due to arrive in camp overnight and this morning.

Among the late arrivals is Wes Hoolahan who is nursing a tendon problem at the back of his knee but who, it seems, has no qualms about putting country before club at this crucial point in the international calendar.

“Wes is doing a couple of extra days there (at Norwich),” O’Neill revealed. “Possibly Norwich wanted him not to play in the games, I think, to get himself right in the summertime but Wes thankfully has left that out of the equation. Maybe I’m making more of it is than it is but Wes wants to play the games, which is great for us.”