Callum Robinson believes that Jack Grealish is, no doubt, expecting the wrath of the Lansdowne Road faithful on Saturday as Ireland take on England, however, the former Aston Villa forward fully expects his old pal to handle the situation in store.
The childhood friends, who came through the youth ranks at Aston Villa, could face each other at the Aviva Stadium for the Nations League encounter, and Robinson admitted that he is really looking forward to the mouthwatering occasion.
Grealish, of course, has strong Irish family roots and played underage football for Ireland, while also playing Gaelic football as a teenager, however, he returned to the country of his birth at senior level.
The then Aston Villa prospect won the Ireland Under-21 player of the year in March 2015, yet by September of that year, he confirmed that his future was with England.
Grealish would break into the senior team in time for Euro 2020 – which was played in 2021 due to Covid – and helped England reach the final and play in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, while his club career was on a similarly upward trajectory as he moved to Manchester City, going on to win the Premier League title three years in a row.
"It will be nice," said Robinson, when asked about playing against his former team-mate. "I'm really looking forward to Saturday, for all the boys as well, the new gaffer coming in, it’s an exciting time, what better feeling than if we can get a result at the Aviva against England."
"I don’t know what abuse he might get but I think he’ll be expecting it," added Robinson. "I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t, because I think he gets booed anywhere he goes, even in England so I think he’ll be getting ready for a bit of abuse.
"But listen, that’s part of it, that’s part of the game, and I think he’s old enough and being a senior player, that stuff is going to come, he gets it in England games anyway, or English games in the Prem. I don’t think there will be any change on Saturday, I think he’ll be getting it."
Robinson also offered his thoughts on Heimir Hallgrimsson after spending his first few days under the new regime, and the Ireland forward said that there is a lot of cramming taking place ahead of the new manager’s first test.
Hallgrimsson is busy on the training ground and behind the scenes trying to plot for the upcoming double-header while also looking to instil a new philosophy in the team, which may not be as archaic as some think when analysing his comments last week about moving away from the concept of playing out from the back.
"It's been good," said Robinson. "A lot of information has to be crammed in but, to be fair, that is normal with international football because the games come so quick.
"We've had maybe three meetings and we'll have another one tonight (Tuesday), and it's just trying to get that information across on what he wants from us and the tactics that he likes to play, being a little more solid defensively and being hard to beat, and the only way we can do that is meetings and on the training pitch.
"It's obviously quite a few meetings but we understand as players that it's a new manager and a new philosophy and the stuff he wants, and we need to cram it in as much as we have a big game on Saturday.
"I don't think the gaffer now is trying to run away from playing football because that is the way football is going at the moment.
"When you're playing teams like England and the top nations, we don't want to be naive. We want to go with a solid base and hope we can get a result on Saturday. I don't think it's far off, he just wants us to be a bit more solid and hard to beat."
As for his own form, Robinson said that he worked very hard throughout the summer to force his way back into contention at both club and country, and he is reaping the rewards now with a solid start to the season at Cardiff City, while returning to the Ireland squad having missed out on John O’Shea’s tenure in charge.
"[It was] not nice at all. But I expected it," he said. "I spoke to Sheasy (John O’Shea) in the summer. I only played two 25 minutes due to a few injuries at the back end of last season. Sheasy did not have to explain himself.
"In the summer I grafted, worked really hard, looked after my body and had it in my mind to get back into the squad.
"The start of the season went well and this topped it off, getting back with the boys. I am really happy at the moment. Worked hard. Worked my way back into the squad."
Robinson finds himself battling for a starting spot amongst a strong selection of strikers in the squad, and he feels there is a good blend now of youth and experience, while praising the efforts of former manager Stephen Kenny for allowing the younger players to gain so much experience, which should help Hallgrimsson's tenure.
"Stephen Kenny, he did such a good job, as he brought all these young players through. He left and that is part of football, it is about results, but for Irish football he has done the hard bit.
"You see now, Adam (Idah) at Celtic is playing now, Troy (Parrott) is playing, Jayson Molumby is playing. All these players who were young are now a big part of the team.
"There is a good sprinkle of older lads as well. That is key to have the senior lads, to help the young lads because there is a lot of quality.
"With a new manager coming in he has young lads with 20, 25 caps already. So maybe it is a good time. A big challenge but we look forward to it."
Watch Republic of Ireland v England in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday from 4pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
