NEWS: Manchester United defender John O'Shea has admitted he is too scared to crow about his part in the Republic of Ireland's win over Scotland - because he will incur the wrath of Alex Ferguson if he does.
Wednesday night's Hampden Park friendly had been the subject of plenty of training ground banter between the Old Trafford manager, who was in charge of the Scots during the 1986 World Cup finals, and his protege.
O'Shea looked particularly comfortable at centre-back against a toothless Scottish attack. But that could change once he gets back to Old Trafford.
"I'm sure Fergie will pull me aside and have a quiet word with me not to celebrate too much," he said. "He's a true Scot and he won't be too happy. There was plenty of banter before the game and he said that we wouldn't get the win."
O'Shea also had words of encouragement for Berti Vogts' side, whose Euro 2004 preparations have been severely dented by the reverse.
"I don't think it was as easy as it may have looked. We knew we had to get off to a good start, which we did do. That put Scotland on the back foot and they couldn't seem to cope then.
"But Berti has plans for his future squad and players like my United team-mate Michael Stewart can give the Scots hope. They seem to be going in the right direction, but he just needs time."
O'Shea admitted that all the players were keen to impress new boss Brian Kerr and the youngster was pleased with his own performance alongside defensive partner Gary Breen.
"It's a new era for us with it being Brian's first game in charge and I think everybody wearing a green shirt put in a good solid performance.
"We worked at little things at training but we didn't really have enough time, but we touched on a few things and it worked well.
"I was happy with my own performance. A clean sheet is the main thing for a defender and I'm delighted with that. No matter which defender you play alongside you need to get along with them but Gary and I do seem to have a good understanding."
In addition to staking a claim for himself at the heart of the Irish defence, O'Shea has been a regular in the Manchester United team this season and the big games are coming thick and fast for the youngster.
Title rivals Arsenal and Italian giants Juventus are the next two visitors to Old Trafford and O'Shea is confident that the English side are ready to continue their good form, not only in Europe but in the run-in to the domestic season.
"It's going to be tough because Juventus are doing okay in the Italian league, but we're in good shape in the Champions League. We seem to step up a gear when we play there so we're looking forward to it.
"It remains to be seen if European football will have an effect on our Premiership aspirations but we've nearly got a fully-fit squad and we're in great shape."
Meanwhile, Hibernian goalkeeper Nick Colgan has revealed he almost missed out on his second Republic of Ireland cap because Kerr had forgotten he was sitting on the bench. In the end, Colgan was given the nod to replace Charlton's Dean Kiely late on.
But Colgan confessed he had feared he would miss out - and thanked goalkeeping coach Packie Bonner for giving Kerr a timely reminder.
He told the Edinburgh Evening News: "Brian had a word with Dean and I the day before the game and said that as Shay Given wasn't playing Dean would start the match and I'd come on at some stage.
"But I think Brian got so wrapped up in the match, his first in charge, that he forgot about me. I can't blame him, he was so desperate to start with a win.
"Brian and Berti Vogts had agreed that each side could use up to eight substitutes, but as time wore on I think all of us were starting to wonder. It wasn't until 70-odd minutes we made our first change, but we all recognised how important it was for Brian to win his first match."
