Keane to meet challenge head on

Soccer:The pressure is on in the Ireland camp and there's no getting away from it, but the management and players welcomed the burden this afternoon in Gdynia. Defeat against Croatia in Poznan on Sunday means a point is the least Giovanni Trapattoni's side can leave the Gdansk Arena with on Thursday.

The problem is, they have to wrestle the result off world and European champions Spain, who, it has been pointed out, have five or six Luka Modrics in the world’s finest midfield.

After a lively training game at the Arka Stadium, in which the pitch was more compact than it has been previously, presumably in preparation for working in tight spaces when Spain aim to win the ball high up the pitch, captain Robbie Keane and coach Marco Tardelli insisted the squad is coping well after the disappointment of their opening defeat and embracing the enormity of the task ahead.

"There's always pressure, there was pressure before we came into the championship,” said the LA Galaxy forward, who is currently enduring his most barren spell for Ireland in 11 years.

“You have to get results. It's going to be no different than it has been before. I mean, before this game, people hadn't given us a chance so what have we got to lose?

“For me it's just another game. Of course, it's a massive game but every game we play in is a massive game, whether it's in the championship or a qualifier, it doesn't really matter it's just another game, it's another game that hopefully we can get three points.

"We've been on a good run, it's ended a couple of days ago but the lads can't get their heads down, thinking too negatively, we have to be positive and look forward to the next game which is Thursday against the world champions.”

Tardelli, described the pressure as “good” and added: “We are Cindarella. We are underdogs. The players want to do something very important for the country. They believe. We believe. We are on the pitch to win.”

Giovanni Trapattoni’s assistant refused to comment on the possibilities of changes, he leaves those things to the boss, but the presence of Jonathan Walters alongside Keane in the training game was further evidence, after the manager hinted as much yesterday, that the Stoke man is readying himself to replace Kevin Doyle.

Regardless of who he plays beside, Keane says nothing much is going to change in lead up to the game.

"We have to approach it the way we have been doing. If you look at the way we conceded goals the other night, the timing of the goals absolutely killed us. Apart from that they didn't really open us up and create a hell of a lot of chances, to be honest with you, so, if we can just concentrate a little bit more. In a 10 minute spell, we found ourselves two goals behind so we have to get our mindset around that and be focused.

“Listen, we know it’s going to be tall order against one of the best teams in the world but we are not going into this believing we are just making the numbers up for Spain, we are there to hopefully get three points and get back on track.”

The Spaniards started their opening 1-1 draw with Italy, with six in midfield and no recognised striker. Keane described them as “probably the best six midfielders in the world” today.

“Listen, no matter who they play, we know it’s going to be a tough game, they have world class players throughout the squad. It's by no means going to be an easy game, we certainly know that, we know we're up against it.