If Ireland manager Martin O’Neill has devised a plan on how to stop Wales superstar Gareth Bale on Friday, his players made sure that they were not about to divulge the World Cup qualifier masterplan.
So much so, in fact, that the four squad members paraded in front of the media this afternoon even resorted to answering each others’ questions when queried about the best methods of stopping the Real Madrid man.
"Just save it," chirped Jeff Hendrick when Darren Randolph was asked what preparations he was making for the meeting with Bale.
A fine deflection in front of goal from the Burnley midfielder but there was nothing that Hendrick could do to stop the Bale barrage that followed as question after question involved the Welsh talisman in some form or another.
"He’s a very good player, we all know that," Hendrick relented. "He plays for a top club team. We’ve all seen what he’s done over the last few years.
"Same with Wales, they had a great run in the Euros. They should be full of confidence still from that."
A statement of the obvious perhaps, however, Hendrick did admit that he was looking forward to Friday’s encounter in front of a full house at the Lansdowne Road venue where he will come face to face with Bale for the first time.
The Burnley man believes his experience playing against the best sides in the English top tier has helped him learn how to compete with world class players.
"There’s certain times in games when you can’t get to a player or you can’t press him so you’ve got to sit off. You’ve just got to judge it on the night," explained Hendrick.
"I think in most games we try and press teams and close them down as we don’t want to give international teams a lot of time on the ball because they have a lot of players that can hurt you.
"It's the first time [playing against Bale]. It's a big game and I am just looking forward to it, playing at home with our crowd.
"It isn’t just Bale. They have a strong midfield, a strong attacking line and defence as well. We’ve just got to analyse and try to exploit a few of their weaknesses."
Cyrus Christie is unlikely to enjoy a starting role in Friday’s encounter as captain Seamus Coleman has returned to full training, however, the Derby County full back proved pretty adept at sticking to the script regarding all things Bale related.
"We haven’t looked at any videos of him [Bale] yet, we have looked at videos of the whole team," said Christie.
"You can’t just prepare for just one man. There is going to be 11 of them out there. Gareth Bale is their main man and we have to look at ways to nullify him and nullify the rest of them as well.
"If we impose our game-plan on them and our style of play and with the players that we have got, there is no reason why we are not going to come out on top.
"Bale is going to have moments in the game where he is going to create something so it is about limiting those chances and stop the rest of them as well."
Stephen Ward is set to see a lot of Bale on Friday night as the Burnley defender will surely start at left back with Robbie Brady missing out through suspension.
And the former Bohemians man admitted that facing Bale is likely to be a step up from anything that he has faced in the Premier League this season.
"He is probably a step up from everything. He is at one of the biggest clubs in the world and is playing well,” said Ward.
"It’s a difficult question,” he continued as he was asked to explain the best way to stop the Real Madrid attacker.
"He’s obviously one of the best players in the world. It’s very difficult to have a game-plan against these people but I think that we just have to try as an 11, as a unit, not to let him have time on the ball.
"Get close, get tight, make it uncomfortable for him but I’m sure there will be times in the game where he will have an effect. We just need to try to keep it to a minimum."
And while Ward expects a full briefing on how best to handle the marauding Bale ahead of the game, he was also quick to point out that there is a lot of quality in the Wales XI and how big a test is waiting the Irish on Friday.
"I’m sure over the coming days we’ll have a chat. But listen, he’s the main man but they have a lot of other quality around the pitch and we know what a good side they are. We’re under no illusions about how big of a test it is and how tough it’s going to be.
"As a team, we are going to try and nullify him. It’s not going to be easy. It looks as though he has a free role for Wales and they’ll want to get him on the ball as much as possible.
"So we’ll have to try to stop the service in to him and when he does get it, get as close as we can, because you cannot afford to give a player of that ability too much space and too much time as you know he will hurt you.”
And while Ward knows the result will depend on the job that the players do on the pitch, the Dubliner is convinced that manager Martin O’Neill will have the perfect plan and preparations in place ahead of this tantalising World Cup qualifier.
"I’m sure come Friday night, the manager will have us raring to go and we’ll be ready to give it everything."
Dave Kelly reports from the Ireland training camp where James McCarthy handed manager Martin O'Neill an injury boost. pic.twitter.com/YdQpaVITzA
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 22, 2017
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