Everyone needs to step up to the mark, warns Martin O’Neill

In the immediate aftermath of a 1-0 win over Georgia which could so every easily have been a draw or worse for Ireland, Martin O’Neill described his team’s first-half performance as “very ordinary.” 

All the indications are that the descriptive language he used in the dressing room in the Aviva at half-time on Thursday was rather more robust, what match-winner Seamus Coleman later termed “a rollicking” from the Ireland manager getting something more like the desired response in the second half.

A win and a draw from home and away games might be textbook stuff for the start of a World Cup qualifying campaign but the more painful detail behind Ireland’s satisfactory place on the table – which currently sees them on four points with Wales, Serbia and Austria – means O’Neill’s team can’t afford any complacency in Chisinau tomorrow night, even if they are taking on a Moldovan side which, with no points, no goals scored and seven conceded in two games, look like they’re already shaping up to be the Group D whipping boys.

The match will take place at the 10,400-capacity Zimbru Stadium, where Moldova were beaten 3-0 by Serbia on Thursday, and O’Neill is making no bones about demanding much more from his players in their third qualifying game than they showed from the start on Thursday in Dublin.

“I think we need everyone to step up to the mark,” he says. “The performance in the first half against Georgia shows we need everybody at it. We can’t afford to carry anybody.”

O’Neill observes that, because his team allowed the Georgians to “get into a rhythm, they started to grow in confidence,” with the result that he readily concedes Ireland were lucky to go in still on level terms at the break.

“We didn’t play well enough,” he says. “We turned it around in the second half, started getting second balls and applying more pressure. That was really it. We relied on Seamus Coleman scoring a goal. It was a tough evening for us. But we won, and that becomes very important.” Apart from the welcome three points, the other big positive he took from the night was what he feels was further proof of Irish resilience.

“Whatever the team lacks, we’ve shown over the last two years that, what shall I say, we keep going. We drive on. They don’t give in, in that sense, and don’t give up on what might be a difficult cause. On Thursday night, we knew the importance of winning the game - and we won it. I’m delighted with that.” What O’Neill wants first and foremost against Moldova is for the players to fully apply themselves for as much of the 90 minutes as they can.

“We have to be driving at it,” he says. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. Better teams than us have to be driving at it. We can’t allow fifteen or twenty minutes to disappear in a game and be second best because you may not be able to recover well enough.

“You can go through a period where the other team have the ball, that’s fine, but we couldn’t get close enough to Georgia and that seven minutes became ten, twelve, fourteen. Next thing you know I’m delighted to be getting in at half-time. But I felt we’d turn it around in the second half and we did.” With the dust barely settled on Thursday’s match, O’Neill found himself ambushed by a barrage of questions about Harry Arter’s international intentions, after rumours spread on social media that the currently injured Bournemouth player – who has yet to play a competitive game for Ireland – was going to defect to England.

Showing commendable grace under pressure, O’Neill answered as best he could considering that, by his own admission, the story was complete news to him – as indeed it was to the media personnel asking the questions at that point.

There was a very good reason for that since it appears the ‘breaking news’ turned out to be already broken, a Twitter storm of uncertain origin. Before the manager flew out to Chisinau with his squad yesterday, he spoke to Arter and got clarification that he remains committed to the Irish cause.

The Irish squad arrived in the Moldovan capital without Robbie Brady who is “resting up” after the sickening clash of heads which knocked him unconscious at the Aviva. Brady spent Thursday night in hospital and underwent a precautionary scan. But although he has now been cleared by the FAI medical staff, the concussion he sustained means he has been released from the squad.

Also out of tomorrow’s game is Jeff Hendrick but, although suspended, the Burnley midfielder has travelled with his colleagues.

In encouraging news for Martin O’Neill, Shane Long has suffered no reaction to the knock he sustained against Georgia, with the striker expected to train today.

In other news, the FAI have announced that Ireland will play Uruguay in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, June 4 next year, the match acting as a warm-up for the World Cup qualifier against Austria a week later on Sunday June 11.

Probable teams:

MOLDOVA 4-2-3-1:

Cebanu; Epureanu, Carp, Bolokhan, Racu; Cebotaru, Gatskan; Cojocari , Bugaiov, Dedov; Andronic.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 4-2-3-1:

Randolph; Coleman, Duffy, Clark, Ward; McCarthy, Whelan; Walters, Hoolahan, McClean; Long.