O’Neill: We can’t sit back

Having seen his side take over 45 minutes to get going against Georgia, Martin O’Neill wants his team on the front foot for the visit of world champions Germany next month.

“If we sat in all night against Germany and hoped for something and they beat us, I don’t think we’d feel all that great,” the manager said at his squad announcement yesterday.

“We’re not blessed with phenomenal pace in the team so we’re not going to be breaking with three boys with blinding pace who could take guys on one on one. So sitting in all night against Germany would be tantamount to disaster at the end.