O'Neill looking to Warrior Walters in Austria battle

Macdara Ferris reporting from FAI HQ in Abbottstown.

The battle for qualification for Russia 2018 comes into sharp focus for the Republic of Ireland on Sunday evening. Ahead of the Austria clash at the Aviva Stadium, Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill at the pre-match press conference took up his assistant manager’s combative theme from earlier in the week when Roy Keane noted that "we want players to go to war."

“I understand what he is saying,” said O’Neill. “Roy went to war every time he played over 14 years.

“What he means is you have to have a real strong mentality, be ready for it and you have to battle through the game because qualification games are like that. They are tough. It is really hard work.”

O’Neill handed Walters the captain’s armband for last weekend’s 3-1 win over Uruguay and will likely do so again in the absence of Seamus Coleman. O’Neill, sitting beside the Stoke striker at the press conference, hailed Walters as a “warrior” and is delighted to have the forward fully fit and available to him.

“Jon was our talisman in our European qualification and unfortunately he picked up an injury in training just before the (EURO2016) competition started. He played a bit but he wasn’t properly fit so it is nice to have him on board.

“He has been terrific since I came in and before that. To use one of Roy’s phrases he is a great warrior for us but more than that he has great ability and has helped us enormously.”

The Stoke striker said that he was “ready to go” for the game. Walters has played all 450 minutes of the World Cup qualifying campaign so far. With Ireland sitting joint top of the group alongside Serbia, and four points clear of both Austria and Wales, Walters knows how crucial the three points are on Sunday. However he isn’t dreaming of Russia qualification just yet.

“We know if we win tomorrow the gap will be bigger,” said Walters. “We’ve been on other end of that when we came back in the last qualifying campaign to upset the odds.

“If we win tomorrow there are still some difficult games to go - Wales away and Serbia (at home). There are teams up there who are fighting for it. We will reassess tomorrow but there is a long way to go to the World Cup.”

O’Neill meanwhile wasn’t making it a must win game for Austria for the visitors to stay in the hunt for a place in Russia next summer.

“It is a big three points for both countries,” said O’Neill. “It really is. We have crossed the half way stage to start the second half of the tournament. We have to grab these points.

“I think that to begin with Austria were one of the favourites to go through in the group and I think they may be a bit disappointed so far with the points they’ve left on the field. They are probably disappointed that they lost to us at home. I think they will be doing everything to put that right again. Naturally I expect a tough game.”

He also wasn’t underestimating a much changed Austria squad who have a large number of players unavailable for a myriad of reason. They will miss six players involved in Ireland’s 1-0 win in Vienna thanks to tonsillitis, a couple of suspensions, a retirement, a knee injury and even a wedding.

“Austria have the man power to over come those things,” outlined O’Neill.

“Some Austrian players are missing but we have some exceptional players missing as well; Seamus Coleman being one of the best full backs in European football so that is a blow to us and Shane Long is missing.

“We have to start strongly in the game. We are at home. We have to try and take the game to Austria and really be positive right from the start. Austria have the capability of causing us all sorts of problems. I think that we have to be on the front foot when we can but we also have to be aware of their dangerous players.”

Praying for an Ireland win between despair and the joy of victory! pic.twitter.com/LKxUl79OZj

— Macdara Ferris (@macdarabueller) June 10, 2017