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St Ledger: "We want to try to get three points when we’re playing at home" ©INPHO/Donall Farmer
Fighting Talk

Men on a mission: 'We've got a point to prove,' says St Ledger

Sean St Ledger talks to TheScore.ie ahead of a make-or-break few days for the Irish football team.

SEAN ST LEDGER and his Republic of Ireland team-mates need no reminder that next five days will define their Euro 2012 campaign.

They’ve been here before.

Last October, Ireland faced an almost identical scenario. Crunch games against Russia and Slovakia in quick succession and with them, a chance to stamp their authority on Group B.

But when all was said and done, both players and management were left to rue a missed opportunity as they came away with just one point from six, courtesy of St Ledger’s first-half strike in Zilina.

The memory of last October is still very much on the team’s mind, the centre-half explained when TheScore.ie caught up with him last week, but they’re now looking to the future one step at a time.

“I think the first game is obviously important,” he said. “We want to try to get three points when we’re playing at home.

“Then you kind of go from there. You see what result Russia have had [at home to Macedonia this evening].

If you can get a point in Russia, we’ve got the last couple of games and hopefully we’ll still be in with a chance of getting first or second spot.

A surprise package during last year’s World Cup in South Africa, tonight’s opponents come to Dublin with an impressive CV. Like Ireland, Vladimir Weiss’s men have only been turned over once in this campaign, a 3-1 loss in Armenia last October.

“They’re a very, very good side,” St Ledger says, reflecting on the 1-1 draw in Zilina. “They keep the ball very well. They’ve got good movement.”

Ireland have been boosted by the news that Slovakia’s playmaker and captain Marek Hamsik is still a serious injury doubt ahead of tonight’s game, though the Napoli star did travel to Dublin with the rest of the squad.

But for St Ledger, it is home advantage rather than missing players that could tip the scales in Ireland’s favour.

“They had a couple of key players missing last time — their striker [Robert Vittek] and [Martin] Skrtel from Liverpool, who are obviously big players for them.

But they’re coming here now, and we’re very strong at home. It’ll be a tough game from us, but we’re confident.

A positive result in the Aviva tonight would make a world of difference to Ireland’s chances of at least securing second spot, particularly in light of Tuesday’s tough trip to Moscow.

Last time out, St Ledger remembers how Russia ran Ireland ragged, cruising into a three-goal lead without breaking sweat before Robbie Keane and Shane Long intervened to make a game of it.

If nothing else, he says, himself and his team-mates have to learn from what happened that night and use it to their advantage.

“I was probably surprised by how good they were. They were very, very good — probably one of the best international teams I’ve played against.

“They’ve got some very exciting players. They were very organised, they knew how we were going to be playing. I’m sure that when we go over there this time, it’ll be the same.

We know we didn’t play our best last time, so we’ve got a point to prove.

Follow all of tonight’s action in our Ireland v Slovakia liveblog from 7pm >