Record won't sidetrack Keane

Robbie Keane insists he will shut the Republic of Ireland goalscoring record out of his mind as he refocuses on leading his country to the 2006 World Cup finals.

Keane moved to within three of Niall Quinn’s 21-goal all-time record with a second-half brace to sink Canada at Lansdowne Road last night.

But the in-form Tottenham striker said the most important thing was shrugging off last month’s European Championship qualifying misery and building towards Germany in three years’ time.

Keane said: “The record isn’t something I really think about. It’ll be good if I beat it but I’m very proud to play for my country and I just love scoring goals.

“Hopefully I will do it but I will take each game at a time. We just have to move on now and get on with putting up good performances.”

Barring sudden misfortune the 23-year-old Keane is certain to overhaul Quinn’s tally and could do so before the qualifying process begins with a few more friendly matches lined up for early next year.

His second half brace against the low-key Canadians kept him sixth in the all-time list but one more goal will bring level with John Aldridge, Don Givens and Tony Cascarino and bring him within one of Frank Stapleton.

A mark of Keane’s international goalscoring prowess is that he has homed in on the record after just 47 caps – just over half the number handed to Quinn during his long and successful career.

While Keane’s form provided great comfort for Brian Kerr the biggest plus point came in the impressive full debut of 21-year-old Nottingham Forest midfielder Andy Reid.

Reid set up Damien Duff’s brilliant opener as well as Keane’s first, and took to the international stage with ease.

Reid said: “It was a very proud moment for me and it was great to have my family here to see it.

“I think the difference between club and under-21 football and this was that there were better players alongside you and against you.

“But I didn’t find it hard to settle in and I am just delighted with how it went.”

Reid is likely to play a major part in Kerr’s gradual rebuilding, as is his Forest team-mate John Thompson who appeared as a second-half substitute.

While Canada meant little in terms of a major scalp the Irish believe their ultimately comfortable victory enabled them to shrug off the cobwebs of Basle and look ahead with renewed confidence to the 2006 draw next month.

Goalkeeper Shay Given said: “It doesn’t make up for losing in Switzerland but it’s important we got that defeat out of our system.

“We played well and kept Canada at a distance. It was also nice to keep a clean sheet but it was more important that we got the win.”