Brian Kerr hoping Martin O’Neill’s luck will hold

Former Ireland boss Brian Kerr reckons Ireland’s play-off against Denmark is too close to call but hopes Martin O’Neill’s lucky streak can affect Christian Eriksen’s availability.

Just as Ireland looked down and out in their quest to clinch a play-off before last week, a sequence of events went in their favour.

Firstly, Wales lost their talisman Gareth Bale to injury for the play-off decider in Cardiff. Ireland also needed results in other groups going their way to avoid missing out as the worst-placed runner-up and Scotland’s second-half collapse in Slovenia 48 hours earlier saw to that materialising.

Joe Allen, who along with Aaron Ramsey took up the mantle for the Welsh in Bale’s absence, was forced to leave the field in the first half with concussion.

Now, standing between Ireland and a place in Russia are the Danes, with Eriksen their star turn. The 25-year-old spearheaded their recovery in the second half of the campaign, notching goals against Poland, Montenegro, and Romania on the run-in. The €50m-rated attacking midfielder will be the man Ireland will have to stop next month.

“Eriksen is Denmark’s key man and with Martin’s luck, he might miss the match,” said Kerr, who managed Ireland from 2003-2006.

“Denmark are a decent second-placed team but it’s an even match. They have a mixed group of players, similar to us, but their players are more spread out in different leagues like Spain, Germany, and Italy.

“Like us, Denmark can play a direct style but in the last 15 years, their teams at underage level has all been about developing technical, skilful players.

“I know their manager Age Hareide from his time in charge Norway and Malmo. He normally plays with a big frontman, be it Andreas Cornelius or sometimes Nicklas Bendtner, but I expect our defence to deal with any direct threat.”

If Ireland felt they got the plum pairing in Tuesday’s draw, then Denmark weren’t daunted at all by the hand they were dealt.

Out came the usual stereotypes about Ireland’s British-style approach but Hareide’s main reaction was one of relief at not drawing Sweden or Greece. The only regret was getting Ireland instead of their northern neighbours.

Hareide, a 64-year-old journeyman in managerial terms, has shipped his fair bit of flak for losing to Montenegro in Copenhagen and drawing twice with Romania in the campaign but the Norwegian’s record in 2017 is impressive.

His counterpart O’Neill didn’t win his first competitive match of the year until this month yet Hareide is unbeaten in seven games, including a draw against Germany in a friendly.

He was fallible enough to abandon his three-man-defence experiment following the defeat to Montenegro 12 months ago, creating a platform for an exciting unit which averaged two goals per game.

Seeking to optimise their strengths, Hareide will set his team up to attack, particularly in the first leg with the aim of taking an advantage to Dublin.

Eriksen will be relied on to provide the potency up front but young strikers Viktor Fischer, Kasper Dolberg and Andreas Cornelius can also present a threat.

“It is possible to get around Ireland by playing our football along the ground,” said Hareide. “We need to be sharp on the last third, be precise and fast in that area. Everything must be in place on the last third. Our victories over Poland, Armenia and Kazakhstan in Copenhagen show that we have the players to make it work at home.”