Kerr grateful for chance to atone

Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr is grateful for the fact his side have an immediate opportunity to rid themselves of the frustration experienced against Israel on Saturday.

While no-one is doubting tonight’s World Cup clash against the Faroe Islands will be an easy affair, it is still a match Ireland should win and so release their anger after the draw with the Israelis – when they threw away a two-goal lead, and with it two precious points.

Ireland captain Kenny Cunningham has revealed that feelings of disappointment are still lingering from the result going into the Group Four game at the Torsvollur stadium.

So a victory and Ireland going top of the group would be the ideal way for the players to head into their summer holidays.

“It’s good to have a game because it can be a frustration in international football when there is a distance between matches,” said Kerr.

“When it’s running well for you, you like to keep it going, and if it hasn’t gone so well then you like to have another game to get it out of the system.

“So I’m happy and the squad are happy we’ve another game after what happened on Saturday, and then after this they then have a decent break.”

Of concern to Kerr, though, is that he has six players on yellow cards going into the game – Cunningham, Damien Duff, Clinton Morrison, Andy Reid, John O’Shea and Kevin Kilbane.

With France next up for Ireland in September, Kerr can ill-afford to lose any of those big-name players, just as he was without Roy Keane and Stephen Carr against Israel, and as he is without Andy O’Brien for this game following his unjust dismissal on Saturday.

“I think it’s something the players have to be aware of,” insisted Kerr.

“Some players can go a whole campaign without getting a yellow, while some can survive on one for many games if they are careful.

“For players in particular positions, it can be difficult for them. We lost two for the game last week and we’ve Andy out, although through no fault of his own, but overall our disciplinary record is excellent.

“Of course, we don’t want to lose players through suspension, so it is an issue, but it is an issue for every team in the group.

“Obviously, with France next, that is one aspect for us. But we should just try not to have any more yellow cards, so then we won’t have any suspended for the remainder of this campaign.”

Cunningham, though, is at odds with his manager as he is adamant that not only do the players not think about the yellow-card situation, but even if any do suffer a suspension, they have enough strength in depth to cope.

“As a squad we’ve a lot of confidence in each other and we feel any combination of those players is god enough to get a result at any given time,” asserted Cunningham.

“If we lose one or two players along the way then so be it because the squad is strong enough to cope. The most important thing is we get the right result tonight.”