Keane vows to make amends

Robbie Keane will tonight push to one side the current criticism surrounding the Republic of Ireland in a bid to restore lost pride.

Manager Steve Staunton’s team face the Czech Republic at Lansdowne Road, and are still smarting from Saturday’s 5-2 defeat to Cyprus.

The condemnation following one of the darkest nights in Ireland’s football history has been loud and widespread, with Staunton’s job seemingly under threat after just 10 months in charge.

Even captain Keane, 26, has been taken aback by events since the nightmare in Nicosia which has left Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals hanging by a thread.

Tottenham striker Keane is adamant there will be no repeat of the events at the GSP Stadium, not least because 36,000 fans will be demanding the players put up a fight.

“The criticism these last few days has been a surprise,” said Keane.

“But you have to accept it and be big and strong enough to get on with it and cope with these things.

“Of course, as players you don’t want to go through what happened on Saturday, but it did happen.

“We were as disappointed as the Irish fans because we take pride in playing for our country, and take pride in winning games.

“We know we let ourselves down on Saturday, and we let down the fans, and now it’s up to us to put it right, to stand up and be counted.

“We know when we go out tonight, we will be doing our utmost to turn things around, and do as best as we can for the Irish public and ourselves.

“When that whistle goes, we will give it everything we’ve got and hopefully you’ll see a different performance.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult game, but we have to go out there and hopefully put on a good show to restore our own pride and that of the nation.”

Keane feels the fans are crucial if Ireland are to recover. Many have turned against Staunton since the defeat to Cyprus, which was a fourth in succession.

“If everyone could get behind us and rally us on, then it would be a great help,” urged Keane.

“It’s not been the best of weeks – it’s probably been my worst in football in terms of the defeat, all the injuries and everything else that has gone on.

“But in football the good thing is there is always another game to turn things around, and this is a great opportunity for the players to do that.”

A big performance from Keane would not go amiss either as he has scored just one goal in 12 games for club and country this season, while specifically for Ireland it is one in his last seven appearances.

“I haven’t scored as many goals as I would have liked this season, but I’m not too worried about it,” Keane added.

“I used to worry about it when I was younger, but there are worse things to be worried about.

“I know to keep plugging away, keep giving 100%, and that is the most important thing you can do as a footballer.”