McCarthy: We will play as normal

Republic of Ireland coach Mick McCarthy insists he has no special plans to combat the threat of Spain in their second-round match in Suwon.

Spain have emerged as one of the favourites from the tournament after winning all three of the group games and scoring nine goals in the process.

But McCarthy intends to stick to the gameplan which served them so well against Cameroon, Germany and Saudi Arabia and not alter it to deal with any dangerous individuals.

He said: ‘‘We didn’t do it for Dennis Bergkamp when we played Holland in the qualifying campaign so why would we do it now?

‘‘We don’t do it for any player, it would change the way we play.

‘‘Why should I pay them so much respect that I believe we have to man-mark one of their players?

‘‘So no, we won’t make special arrangements. We’ll get through it as a team because that works for us. We’ll handle it as a team and get someone to take care of them if and when they are there.’’

McCarthy’s entire squad trained in the Suwon stadium today which means he has no injury worries going into the game.