Shane Duffy ready to rise for another tough challenge
Ireland’s centre-back only made his competitive debut in June for the must-win Euro finals encounter against Italy in Lille and, after being sent-off in his next outing, was restored to the team for Thursday’s narrow win over Georgia.
With that challenge conquered, another of a different ilk awaits in Eastern Europe. Wales and Serbia have comprehensively beaten the minnows of Ireland’s World Cup qualifying group and Martin O’Neill’s side are expected to prevail with similar ease.
Moldova, considered one of the poorest countries in Europe, will be a far cry from what the squad left yesterday and Brighton and Hove Albion defender Duffy knows they have more than just Moldova’s players to overcome.
“I’m sure the pitch and the conditions won’t be ideal,” said the 24-year-old. “It will be a new experience playing that far in eastern Europe but these are the type of games which need to be won at international level.
“Getting six points from the two games would set us up nicely because Austria drew with Wales the other night. Already, the group is in our own hands but we’ve to go out and get the results.”
Ireland’s performance in winning their first game of the campaign was erratic, pockmarked by indecision and poor distribution and rescued only by Seamus Coleman’s second-half winner. Duffy shared the blame for what unfolded at Lansdowne Road, aware more consistent displays will be required for the tougher tests either side of Christmas against Austria and Wales.
“All of us knew the first-half performance against Georgia wasn’t good enough,” he admitted. “The goal settled us down and I thought we could have could have won by more in the end.
“It was good to come back into the team because, to be honest, I wasn’t expecting to. There’s a lot of competition for the central defensive positions and I owe the manager a lot for putting me straight in the team after missing the match against Serbia last month.”
While his status as target man from set-pieces was predictable, not so foreseen was Duffy’s appearance in the No 7 jersey. Lucky for some, it wasn’t the number of choice for the Derryman and he’ll be glad for Aiden McGeady to reclaim it once the winger recovers from injury.
“The kitman stitched me up by giving me that number,” he explained. “Hopefully, I won’t have it too much longer.”
Meanwhile, Duffy’s fellow Foylesider James McClean defended the team’s drab display against the Georgians, arguing the method of qualification is immaterial once Ireland end their 16 year World Cup famine.
“Maybe people didn’t give Georgia the credit they deserve because we knew they were a good team and tough to break down,” he contended.
“We won the game which is all that matters. Ideally, you would like to play nice, pretty football but sometimes games don’t pan out that way and you’ve to find a way of winning.
“Our main aim is to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia. How we get there doesn’t really matter, people just want us to qualify so the performances will be forgotten about. We’ve got to build on this win by getting another in Moldova.”
Like most of Ireland’s players, McClean got livelier once the breakthrough was found. He even had a header rebound off the crossbar and another effort ruled out for offside.
“I think their goalkeeper tipped my header onto the crossbar, so credit to him.”
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