Stephen Kenny has vowed to take the game to Belgium as the Republic of Ireland face the number one-ranked side in the world at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Ireland manager remains undaunted by the reputation of Roberto Martinez's side, who travel to Dublin missing some key players, yet with a squad packed full of top-level players.
Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne has not travelled with the Belgium squad, while Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois are also missing, however, Martinez’s travelling contingent is still largely made up of players from the top leagues in European football.
Kenny’s Ireland squad have slowly but surely been building up a reputation of their own over the past six months, and despite that rocky start to his tenure as national team manager, the former Dundalk boss appears to have the full support of the players, the supporters, and finally the FAI who recently extended his contract to the European Championships in 2024.
Ireland have gone six unbeaten since that devastating and heart-breaking last-gasp defeat to a Cristiano Ronaldo brace at the start of September, and in the meantime, Kenny’s side matched World Cup-bound Serbia at Lansdowne Road, before securing a well-earned draw with Portugal in the return fixture.
And Kenny, no doubt, is treating the Belgium game in the same vein as the recent fixtures against the aforementioned big hitters, and will again look to impose his own style on the game, rather that allow Belgium to dictate.
"We’re not playing the game to contain and nick something on the break, or try and get a set-piece, or play a low block," said Kenny, speaking at the pre-game press conference.
"I’m just not going to do that. We’ve got good enough players to go and take the game to Belgium.
"Will they force you on the back foot at times? Inevitably that can be the case, because they've got a lot of quality but it’s certain our ambition to do well."
Saturday night’s opponents travel to Dublin to kick-off their year with the World Cup very much in mind.
The top ranked side for a number of years now, yet never to win a major tournament, Martinez is attempting to give valuable experience to his second string, while also creating competition for places ahead of the Qatar tournament.
The Ireland manager is well aware of the quality that Belgium can call on for the Dublin encounter, and not only is he expecting a slick, attacking unit, but also a physical encounter against a big side.
"Belgium are the world number one team for a reason, they’re very consistent in their approach for every game, regardless of the game, whether it be Nations League, friendlies, qualifiers, that’s why they’re number one, they’ve racked up the wins regardless," said Kenny.
"They’ve got huge strength in depth. I spoke about Lukaku not being in the team, but they’ve got [Divock] Origi, [Michy] Batshuayi and [Christian] Benteke as options for one position, and other players we’re well aware of as well.
"It’s not a young Belgian team, it’s a very experienced team, and physically big - players like [Hans] Vanacken who is 6ft 5in, [Leander] Dendoncker, really physically strong players as well.
"Obviously, [Youri] Tielemans is probably one of the most sought-after players, midfield players in Europe, at the moment, very influential, so they’ve a formidable team."
Kenny has a fully fit squad to chose from, and while he will wait until the requisite time to publicly name his side to face Belgium, the manager did confirm that Caoimhin Kelleher would start in goal.
Kelleher remains the number two for both club and country, but now in Gavin Bazunu’s absence, the Liverpool keeper has a chance to impress between the sticks, just as he has done for the Anfield unit, most notably in the recent League Cup final.
Mark Travers is also missing from the squad, returning to Bournemouth through injury, which has led to the call up of Bristol City’s Max O’Leary, and Bohemians’ keeper James Talbot.
The manager opted against calling Darren Randolph back into the squad, however, Kenny insisted that the door had not closed for the former number one.
Kenny emphasised the importance of being involved in the matchday action, whether playing or being part of the squad, and referenced other players who have missed out as a result of lack of game time, including Robbie Brady, Jamie McGrath and Harry Arter.
"Darren is still only 34 and certainly I’d love to see him go and play matches, he just hasn’t been able to play matches and be in squad," said Kenny.
"All those players, they’ve all been great, Brady, Randolph, Arter, they’ve been great servants for Ireland, the door is not closed on anyone."
Kenny was then asked whether it would have been a good idea to bring Randolph into the squad, to keep him involved, and get him to work with some of the younger goalkeepers, but the manager implied that players like Talbot are ahead on merit.
"[I’ve] just got to be consistent in relation to all the other players as well," said Kenny.
"James was excellent in Europe for Bohemians, very good in all those games," said the manager.
"I was at the three games in the Aviva Stadium and he was absolutely excellent. He looked a real good keeper. Over a period of time his performances have been very good, he’s here on merit.
"Listen there is no doubt that Darren Randolph has been an outstanding goalkeeper for Ireland, I’m not trying to diminish his…he’s been a great goalkeeper for Ireland."
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.
