MARTIN O’NEILL TONIGHT refused to disclose whether Robbie Keane will start or not for Ireland’s crunch Euro 2016 qualifier against Germany tomorrow night.
Keane, the hat-trick hero in Saturday’s rout against Gibraltar, was present at tonight’s pre-match press conference and while the Irish boss lavished praise on his striker, he didn’t indicate whether that means the LA Galaxy striker will get a starting berth tomorrow night.
“I wouldn’t assume anything at the moment. Robbie has been a really splendid player for Republic of Ireland for quite some time. He’s up there now, it’s his third hat-trick, he’s really terrific and he was the captain when we stepped in.
“I didn’t see any reason to change it – he’s a very, very fine player and as my assistant manager has mentioned, I think, he’s our best goalscorer. We’ll chat but we haven’t picked the team yet. But he’s standing up here because essentially he’s our captain and an excellent influence in the squad.”
Keane insists that he will respect whatever selection decision is made and is confident he can make an impact if called upon despite the quality of the opposition that Ireland face in the current World Cup winners.
“The manager hasn’t named the team. Whatever team he names, regardless of how many times you play for the country, you have to respect the manager’s decision. I just go and do my job and my job is to score goals. As long as I’m there to contribute and help the team, that’s the most important thing.
“You’re not going into any game certainly as a striker thinking you can’t get at them. I go into every game believing I can get a chance and score a goal. You have to believe that regardless of who you’re playing against.”
Roaring Back
O’Neill is expecting a big response from Germany in the wake of their defeat to Poland on Saturday.
“Germany have had a history of whatever sort of setbacks they’ve had before, they come roaring back pretty quickly. Having watched the game where Germany have had most of the possession and probably should’ve been 2-0 up at half-time, I think regardless of the retirements they’ve had, they’ll be pretty formidable.”
