WE TRUST ROY
O’Dowda says players fully behind Keane
CALLUM O’DOWDA insists that Roy Keane has the absolute support of the Republic of Ireland squad, despite the fall-out from the summer bust-ups with Jon Walters and Harry Arter.
Asked on Tuesday night in Poland if Keane still had the backing of the squad, O’Dowda replied with an emphatic: ‘Yes... I don’t see why you can ask a question like that.’
O’Dowda, who had a fine game in Wroclaw, praised both Keane and manager Martin O’Neill for helping him prepare for the challenge of central midfield.
‘I have never played in a central position, but they (O’Neill and Keane) have helped me with certain areas. You look at Roy and what he’s done in the game, they have helped,’ he said.
The Bristol City midfielder was adamant the pre-match tumult, particularly the revelations from Stephen Ward, hadn’t had a negative influence on the players.
‘I don’t think that’s had an impact at all. I don’t
know about the noise because I don’t really look at social media at all,’ he said before stressing the comradeship within the Ireland ranks. ‘No-one sees it from outside the group, but I’ll tell you what, the togetherness we have in the group is pretty brilliant,’ he stressed. ‘I’m very surprised at the comments that have just been thrown at me but all I will say is what a group I have come into two years ago, I didn’t expect it to be like this. I have played at club level, I have played with really good players but here the togetherness is different.’ ‘I don’t know if one performance can bring us closer. All I know is that in the Wales game, we knew we should have done a lot better and that was very frustrating. I feel like we did let a lot of people down.’ ‘There was a reaction tonight and I could tell the boys were a lot more up for it as well to put it right.’ O’Dowda was one of five players from Cardiff to remain in the side for Wroclaw as he continues to build up his status under O’Neill. At 23, he is the youngest player in the Irish squad, if not the most inexperienced for he has won 12 caps. O’Neill, who first introduced O’Dowda to the squad before the Euro 2016 finals, has used him on both flanks and also, more central, when required. On Tuesday, O’Dowda made a fine surging run into the heart of the Polish ranks, he had a shot on target and also picked out Aiden O’Brien for Ireland’s goal with a sweet delivery. ‘That’s what I want to do, get on the ball and drive at people, take people on from a central position. It gives me more of that directness to get past a few, open it up and then play it wide.’ ‘For myself, that’s what I want to be doing, as well as getting good crosses into the box.’ Operating as part of a midfield three, O’Dowda had more license to push forward in Ireland’s 3-5-2 system. ‘Playing three at the back, I think it helps us to play out from the back. From playing more in a central position, I have the license to break out as well because I know I have got two behind me.’ ‘We have got the wingbacks and two players up front. It’s a good formation and it worked tonight.’ O’Dowda felt Ireland deserved to win. ‘We stayed in a good shape and got the goal early in the second half. It invited a bit of pressure. They went for it then and had a moment’s brilliance through the middle,’ he said. ‘Defensively, we were very good and there was a massive improvement from the Wales game. That’s a bit more what we’re about.’ Meanwhile, O’Neill will resume dialogue with Declan Rice and his family this week in another effort to try and persuade the West Ham defender to commit his international future to the Republic of Ireland. O’Neill is eager to buttress his squad for the ‘big challenge’ of confronting Denmark and Wales next month in the Nations League where he is targeting a six-point haul. ‘Considering the situation and there are only four games in the group, I think you’d have to try and win both games,’ said O’Neill who drew encouragement from the 1-1 draw in Poland. ‘It will be a big challenge and won’t be easy but if we have a couple of players back that will give us an added boost.’ On the Rice situation, O’Neill said he would ‘get to talk to the people’ involved on his return from Poland where he oversaw a credible 1-1 draw. ‘There’s no point in me commenting positively or negatively on that until I get back,’ he said before leaving Wroclaw. O’Neill is unsure if his talisman, Seamus Coleman, will be available for the game after the Irish captain missed Tuesday’s draw with the Poles with a stress fracture in his foot. Coleman was walking about freely in Wroclaw but any break, not matter how small, can be tricky and injuries of this type usually involve a recovery period of four to six weeks James McClean (wrist) and Shane Long (foot) missed the games against Wales and Poland. Of those, McClean may struggle to get over two broken bones in time. With Harry Arter set to return after smoking the peace pipe with Roy Keane in the coming days, O’Neill could have a far stronger hand to play than he did in Cardiff.