Republic of Ireland defender John Egan believes that the side are starting to show that they can handle the pressure as they prepare to face the Hampden Park bear-pit on Saturday evening.
June's 3-0 UEFA Nations League dismissal of Scotland at the Aviva was a sign of the side’s growing maturity, according to the Sheffield United player, but their character will be tested to the full in front of what is sure to be a boisterous home crowd intent on helping their team to earn revenge for that Dublin disappointment.
"It was definitely a big performance and a big result to go with it," Egan said of that Scotland win.
"We had some really good performances and just got edged out like Portugal away. To put in that performance on the back of two defeats [1-0 losses to Armenia and Ukraine] showed the character in the group.
"We went into that game under a lot of pressure and we delivered. We're looking to improve every time we meet up, that's got to be the aim for everyone, and as a team, we want to keep moving forward, keep getting better, and we're looking to take another step forward tomorrow night."
Scotland head into the game on the back of a highly-impressive 3-0 win over Ukraine on Wednesday, but Egan said that it didn't change their preparations too much.
"We go into every game looking to be on the front foot and trying to get the points.
"We all know Scotland had a good performance the other night, it was a good result for them but we're just focused on ourselves.
"We are looking forward to the game tomorrow night, we've a lot of belief in the squad and we are rearing to go."
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One of the issues heading into the game is that a number of Ireland’s Premier League players have been struggling to get regular game-time at their clubs, Everton’s Seamus Coleman and Fulham’s Shane Duffy among them.
Frank Lampard has yet to call on Coleman’s services in the league this season while Duffy has come on in the 94th and 92nd minutes against Liverpool and Brentford respectively.
Egan said that those issues have not hampered their enthusiasm heading into this particular camp.
"They are in really good mood. They are two huge players and two huge leaders for the group and when we all meet up, even though we are an international team, it really feels like we're a club team.
"We're all really together. Everyone loves coming in and Seamus and Shane are two big characters in the group."
Follow the Republic of Ireland v Scotland this Saturday (kick-off 7.45pm) via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player, or listen to national radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
