Robbie Brady taking heart from winning habit

Now that Ireland have developed a winning habit, Robbie Brady believes the European Championship should be approached with excitement rather than trepidation.

Martin O’Neill’s side have once again been grouped with a couple of heavyweights in Belgium and Italy, with the Zlatan Ibrahimovic-led Sweden completing Group 2 for the showpiece in France.

Ireland may be outsiders to progress to the knockout stages but, ahead of tomorrow night’s friendly against Slovakia, Brady has cited their record over the past year as evidence they can make an impact in June.

Friday night’s victory over Switzerland, in which Brady helped create the only goal, stretched Ireland’s record to 10 games with just one defeat suffered.

Brady is well-placed to characterise the winning feeling, as he’s started every one of the games since occupying the left-back berth 12 months ago for the kick-off to that run when Poland visited Dublin.

Defensive solidity, in spite of many injury-enforced changes, has been the hallmark of the sequence, with clean sheets kept against Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, most recently, the Swiss.

That fillip can be crucial at the Euros, where margins will be tight over the three-game group phase, from which a third-place finish may well be enough to reach the last-16.

“Winning comes first, the performance is after that,” claimed the Norwich City man.

“Picking up little victories like Friday’s against Switzerland gets us into that winning mentality which we can bring to the Euros.

“I thought we moved the ball well on Friday. It was better to sit back and let Switzerland pass it around because they weren’t hurting us.

“I think it would have been different had we not got the early goal. They had a high press on, they made it hard for us to play at times but we coped fine.

“The run of results hasn’t happened by itself, it takes a lot of hard work. That is bred into us as a group. We get on very well both on and off the pitch and we work hard for each other.

“That’s the way we’ll approach the Euros. I know we’ve got some big teams in the group but we’ve turned big teams over before. We will be ready for the occasion and are looking to upset a few of those big nations.”

If Ireland are to make their mark in France, the contribution of Brady will need to be pivotal. His learning curve on defensive duties is still in process but his prowess from set-pieces is undisputed.

He accumulated enough goals to become record scorer for Ireland’s U21s and has continued that knack into his senior era. Whether it was his sumptuous free-kick which teed up Jonathan Walters to open the scoring in the second leg of the play-off last November or Friday’s textbook corner for Ciaran Clark’s winner, Brady is heavily relied upon.

“I don’t think it’s all me, it’s just my job to put it in an area,” the 24-year-old explains in modest fashion.

“It only works if you have someone like big Shane Duffy doing unbelievable to keep it alive for the goal on Friday. He’s a big presence in the box, a real danger man in there.

“I just put it in there, he kept it alive and Clarky was on the move at the right time to score.”

While Brady’s place in the squad and the team at the Euros is nailed on, others are vying to make the final 23.

The Dubliner was in a similar position four years ago, emerging at Manchester United without getting much attention from Giovanni Trapattoni in the build-up to the tournament.

However, Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane are offering a platform for rookies to press their claims.

Duffy was the standout performer from the supporting cast on his second cap and more will be granted game-time tomorrow. His own experience has conditioned Brady to feel patience is required on the part of the wannabes.

“The new lads are enjoying just being around the set-up and a few of them have done really well this week,” he says.

“It’s actually been quite relaxed but there are reminders that these are not just games to fill gaps, these are big opportunities and big games for us.

“It’s going to be tough for places, people are going to be left out. I’m sure there is a long process behind it. It’s not the end of the world if they don’t go to the Euros although it may feel like it for them at the time.

“There’s a lot coming up after the Euros in the World Cup qualifiers. There is plenty of play for over the next few months, before and after the Euros.”