Conor Hourihane believes that the Republic of Ireland have turned a corner in recent months and the Cork native reckons that it is onwards and upwards for the national team.
Ahead of this week's international double-header against Belgium and Lithuania, the Sheffield United midfielder feels that the team’s recent form, the manager’s new contract and hopefully coming out of the pandemic will allow the team to show their potential.
And as the squad assembled in Dublin ahead of Saturday’s showdown against world number one-ranked Belgium, Hourihane said that it is an exciting time to be part of the set-up.
The long winter break from international football probably came at a bad time for this emerging Ireland team who were unbeaten in their last six games of 2021, scoring 12 goals in the process.
In fact, Stephen Kenny’s side have only lost one game of their last ten, since last March; the defeat coming on that fateful night on the Portuguese Algarve coast as Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed two late goals to turn victory into defeat.
And while the football has been absent since the impressive 3-0 away win in Luxembourg, which went a long way towards banishing the blues from that shock defeat in Dublin last March, there has been a lot going on since that November camp with coach Anthony Barry leaving the set-up – taking a job with Saturday’s opponents – John Eustace coming in to fill the gap, while the manager’s contract saga has finally been resolved.
"Yeah, a lot going on," Hourihane concurred when asked about the comings and goings in the squad.
"[Since] the last camp, Anthony has left and gone on to a new chapter. John has come in, and the manager has got his well-deserved contract, which is great.
"Exciting times, and we feel like the last few months have gone well for us and we feel like we have turned a corner so hopefully in this camp, we can kick on again."
"It’s great for him and well deserved," added Hourihane, when asked to comment on the manager’s more permanent status.
"In the last couple of camps, we feel like we are turning a corner, playing some good stuff and getting some good results.
"Draw a line under it, and onwards and upwards, and we’re looking forward to this camp and the games ahead."
Despite the removing of most Covid restrictions in Ireland, the team are remaining very mindful of the effect that the virus can have on the squad, and are keeping their guard up, maintaining the testing process, and Hourihane said that he was hopeful that the country was coming out of the pandemic.
"Fingers crossed," said the Cork native. "The manager has had a really tough time when he first took over with Covid cases and pull-outs and it got to a ridiculous stage at one stage for a country like ourselves.
"We haven’t got the luxury of loads and loads of players, so when you have four or five drop out it affects the squad, and we had countless amounts of Covids there at one stage.
"So hopefully the last couple of camps, we have seen the back of that and hopefully we can kick on now with the positive results we have had in the last couple of camps with Covid behind us, and on to exciting times."
While this Ireland manager may not have unlimited resources at his disposal, the same can hardly be said for his Belgian counterpart, Roberto Martinez, who has named a weakened squad for the trip to Dublin.
Yet Hourihane still expects to face a formidable outfit at what should be a sold out Aviva Stadium on Saturday, as the top ranked side in the world will still be filled with quality players.
"I’d say they’ll be alright," said Hourihane, when it was mentioned that Belgium were travelling without some of their world stars like Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne.
"They’re pretty exciting, a fantastic squad. With a few out, they’ll have lads chomping at the bit ready to go. They’ve world class names."
And looking ahead to Saturday’s encounter, Hourihane is hoping that his recent club form will help him see some game time and add to his growing collection of caps.
"Stephen has been great with me. Since he’s come in, I’ve been in pretty much every squad.
"I’ll be trying to impress in any minutes I get on the pitch. Club form obviously comes into it. Sheffield United are going well and I’ve been playing. Hopefully, I can play minutes and get as many caps.
"Belgium will go into this game as red hot favourites. We’ll have to go about our business and be well prepared, hopefully put in a positive performance and see what the result is.
"There’ll be a fantastic crowd there and a great buzz to see the Aviva full. The crowds in the last couple of camps were fantastic so hopefully we can put in a good performance first and foremost and see what way the results go."
Follow the Republic of Ireland v Belgium this Saturday (kick-off 5pm) via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
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