Jon Walters never doubted Euro 2016 dream

It was one of the biggest speedbumps on the road to France, but Jon Walters insists that even after the 1-0 defeat to Scotland at Celtic Park 13 months ago he never stopped believing Ireland could qualify for Euro 2016.

Nor did he lose faith when the Scots left Dublin with a point in June, even if the consensus was that the party would take place without Martin O’Neill’s men.

Walters said: “To be perfectly honest, I didn’t [fear the worst]. Obviously, there was that game [at Celtic Park] and the Scotland game at home after. People were saying it was a must-win and we got a draw.

“I did interviews right at the beginning of the tournament and said we’ve got Point A down here and Point B up there, that’s the aim to get to Point B, to qualification.

“It’s never going to be a straight line, we’re not going to get there in one easy route, we’re not Germany, we’re not Italy, we’re not one of those teams... There’s going to be highs and lows and you’ve just got to ride the lows when they’re there and not get too carried away when we’ve some good results.

“We knew Scotland had to go to Georgia, which we found out ourselves is not an easy place, and a couple of Scottish players wrote us off; that spurred a few players on. The belief was always there.”

Walters would ultimately be the man to make the difference, his brace against Bosnia-Herzegovina getting Ireland over the line on an unforgettable night at the Aviva.

“It was a special night,” Walters recalled on Newstalk’s Off The Ball show last night. “I missed the first leg and it was tense, but we got a good result in Bosnia. We knew it was an all-or-nothing game and it was some atmosphere, it was just rocking.

“You always have a special feeling after you win a game, but to know it’s been a long hard two years qualifying and that feeling, that serene feeling in the dressing room after, when you sit and have a quiet moment... They’re the games you want to play in and the moments you want in football.”

Walters also spoke of his gratitude to O’Neill and Roy Keane for their faith in him when he was out of favour with Stoke.

“The manager and Roy, they’ve shown a lot of faith in me,” Walters said. “When you go to this time last year, I didn’t start the season at Stoke. I wasn’t starting the games and yet, I came away on internationals and I played every game.”