Ireland goal-scorer Ciaran Clark says it was just as important to him to keep a clean sheet against Switzerland as it was to hit the back of the net.
The Aston Villa centre-half headed Ireland into the lead in Friday night’s friendly at the Aviva Stadium following a set-up from his defensive partner, man of the match Shane Duffy.
The pair were immense all night and kept the Swiss out to ensure a hard-fought 1-0 victory at the Aviva Stadium – which made him just as proud as getting the goal
“Yeah, it was a good 90 minutes,” smiled Clarke. “We got off to a pretty quick start with the goal. They had a lot of possession, but I felt we were fairly comfortable.
“Personally, it was good to get a goal but as a defender we judge ourselves on clean sheets and that was just as important.
“Obviously Shane’s a brilliant player and we struck up a good partnership there and I think we were fairly comfortable during the game.
“All round it was a good night and a good 90 minutes, hopefully we can take that forward into the next game.”
Manager Martin O’Neill fielded a new-look side as he ran the rule over a number of players ahead of this summer’s Euro 2016 tournament in France.
There will be more changes for Tuesday’s friendly against Slovakia in Dublin and Clark says competition for places in the squad is intense with seats on the plane to France to play for.
“There’s loads of competition all across the squad,” said Clark, who looks like he has played alongside Duffy (above) for years, such was their comfort in the middle of defence.
“Everyone is fighting for places now, but obviously we know that only 23 can be selected for the final squad so everyone is doing their best and trying their hardest to impress.
“Lads have been doing well at club level and Martin is rewarding the lads for doing well and there’s a lot of competition now and everyone is fighting for those spots.”
Clark has been playing consistently for Villa during their disastrous Premier League season which already looks doomed to end in relegation.
He admitted that it was good to get away from that pressurised atmosphere and end up on a winning team for a chance.
“Definitely. It’s nice to get away and get that short break. I’ll be looking to take that form now back into club level after the international break,” he remarked.
