Irish record cap holder Steve Staunton has warned expectant Republic of Ireland fans not to expect a goal glut in the first leg of their World Cup play-off with Iran at Lansdowne Road on Saturday. The Aston Villa veteran defender, who will collect his 93rd international cap this weekend, understands the high hopes of the nation following play-off defeats in the last three major tournaments, Euro 96, World Cup 98 and Euro 2000.
But the former Liverpool defender admits: "The priority is to keep a clean sheet and hopefully score at least a couple of goals. This game won't be as easy as some people have suggested. Having watched videos of some of Iran's Asian Group qualifying matches, I've come to the conclusion that they are a big, strong team. It will certainly be a lot tougher than our 4-0 victory over Cyprus in Dublin last month but, as usual, we will be going all out right from the start. The golden rule, though, is not to concede goals in the home leg."
Staunton, 32, reckons qualifying for the finals would be the pinnacle of his career. He added: "For old-stagers like Niall Quinn and myself it would be the ultimate and it would also benefit all the young players in the squad. We had a real rollercoaster ride in our European group qualifying but this team is getting better all the time. Nobody gave us a chance against the likes of Portugal and Holland, but we got six points from those two, knocked out the Dutch and we would have always settled for another play-off."
Filed by Shane Murray
