Nathan Collins: Ireland U21s bringing winning mentality into crucial qualifier

Nathan Collins is part of a generation that has come to see major tournaments not as epochal events but as regular staging posts along the pathway to senior football

Fri, 13 Nov, 2020 - 06:45

Brendan O'Brien

Ireland's U21s will not lack for motivation when they face Iceland in a Euro 2022 qualifier in Tallaght this Sunday.

Win and Jim Crawford's side move on to Luxembourg next Wednesday knowing another victory in their last Group 1 encounter will earn this country a first ever appearance at a major finals at the grade.

There's more to it than that. Nathan Collins is part of a generation that has come to see major tournaments not as epochal events but as regular staging posts along the pathway to senior football.

He himself has played in two European Championship finals at U17s level and helped Ireland qualify for a Euros at U19s before being withdrawn for the tournament itself by Stoke City so he could be fast-tracked at club level.

“I’ve seen so many players through the years who have been good at my level, or whatever age group, it has been positive. We all have the same objective. I know I keep saying it but we want to win, we need to win, we want it.

“People have this ... vendetta against Irish football, in a way, but we want to show we can play.

We can play at the highest level and we can beat teams. We have that mentality, that winning mentality.

This is all rather unfamiliar, almost un-Irish, but Collins is of a time and a group that refuses to hide their light under a bushel. He is aware of the old opinions and preconceptions, he just isn't prepared to accept them.

“I’m not sure where it comes from. Everyone has that opinion of Ireland, 'it’s only a small country', but we know ourselves we have good players in this group and we know what we can do. We know we can cause damage. If we show up, we can play any team there is.”

Four teams are still in with a shout of making the delayed finals but the simple fact is that two wins from these last two fixtures and the Republic are guaranteed to avoid the play-off route and qualify as one of five best runners-up.

Sunday's opponents claimed a fortunate 1-0 win in Reykjavik last year. Ireland's only other loss was away to Italy last month when they were without a number of players central to their campaign pre-pandemic for various reasons.

“We know what we have to do,” said Collins. “We know our jobs and our roles and what we need to get what would be a massive win.”