Republic of Ireland midfielder Harry Arter hailed his side’s 3-1 victory over Uruguay as the ideal preparation for next weekend’s World Cup qualifier showdown with Austria.
Ireland had taken a 28th-minute lead through skipper Jonathan Walters' sumptuous effort, and although Jose Gimenez levelled before the break, Cyrus Christie's strike and a well-executed third from substitute James McClean rounded off a good evening for manager Martin O'Neill.
Harry Arter say Ireland's 3-1 victory over Uruguay is the ideal preparation for next weekend's World Cup qualifier with Austria. pic.twitter.com/Eet4LtL4lR
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 4, 2017
O'Neill's men welcome Austria to the Aviva Stadium next Sunday for a game which could go a long way to deciding qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
A win in Dublin would see Ireland put seven points between themselves and Austria and with Wales and Serbia also going head-to-head there’s the chance to open up a gap for Martin O’Neill’s side.
The friendly against Uruguay was a chance for players to stake a claim for a place in the starting line-up against Austria and Harry Arter made a big impression with a man-of-the-match performance.
"I wanted to try and put in a performance to make sure I’m in the manager’s mind to play against Austria and I’m thankful for the opportunity tonight and I tried to take it," Arter told RTÉ Sport after the victory against Uruguay.
"I only trained a couple of days this week leading into these games which was tough leading the game but I put it to the back of my mind and focused on trying to perform and ultimately get a win and thankfully we got a win tonight.
"We knew tonight was preparation for the Austria game and you always want to prepare right. Going into your next game it’s always nice to come off a really good result and tonight was definitely that.
"We played against top side who perform very well in World Cups and competitions like that and have a lot of history so it was a fantastic result," Arter added.
"It was tough, international football is slightly different to club football and there’s a lot of work you have to do off the ball which sometimes goes unnoticed.
"I felt it was a very good performance against a really top team and it gives us good confidence going into Austria."
