Martin O’Neill wants Irish stars to rise to occasion

Martin O’Neill is calling on his players to “rise to the occasion” and reprise the successful conclusion to their Euros qualification campaign two years ago, as he announces his squad today for next month’s crucial concluding World Cup group games at home to Moldova and away to Wales.

“In the previous competition we got off to a reasonable start then stuttered during the middle of it but came very, very strong in the last part of the competition and that got us through,” he says.

“Beating the world champions was massive. We have to rise to the occasion again. This is it. We have two games and we know that if win those two games that you would be desperately unlucky not to be in the play-offs. I will genuinely say this to you, if you had said to me at the start of the competition, before we even travelled to Serbia in the opening game, ‘by the way you have to win your last game at home and you have to win in Wales to make it to the play-offs’, I would have taken it.”