Given feels 'sharper and more focused'

EURO 2012 QUALIFYING GROUP B:IT SHOULD not, Irish fans would surely like to think, be a critical factor in a game like this one but as Shay Given continued his preparations for Andorra in the gym yesterday he looked a man who is happy to be the undisputed top dog on his patch again.

A year ago the media focus during the long-time Ireland number one’s trips home inevitably tended to settle on his troubles at Manchester City where he was clearly finding it difficult to adapt to his status as a highly-paid back-up and there was a sense by the end of last year that Keiren Westwood’s challenge for the Ireland jersey was at least gaining ground.

There was, to be fair, never much evidence with Given of self doubt creeping in but his frustration was clear at times and the Donegalman would never come across as man content to sit back and keep collecting the pay cheques. Brian Kerr once played him for Ireland after suggesting he would not, only to admit later that the goalkeeper was a difficult man to drop.

Now, he says, things are “going really well and it is better for me coming to Ireland games after playing because I just feel much sharper and more focused; it is fantastic. I’m enjoying my time at Villa.” He added: “It’s a fantastic club, the manager is great, they are a good set of lads who have really made me feel welcome and it is great to be back in the Premier League again where everyone wants to play.”

Andorra, one suspects on the other hand, would feature pretty far down any list of places leading players would want to ply their trade but Friday’s game in the tiny principality presents a particular range of challenges that the 35-year-old appreciates will have to be overcome.

The team has yet to get into what he describes as the “nitty gritty” of what the manager expects of them at the Estadi Comunal d’Andorra la Vella come 8.30pm (Irish time) on Friday.

“We have to prepare for playing this team in the same way as we would to play any other team, though,” he observes. “It means the same going to Andorra as it does going to Russia last month; we still need to get the right result. We will prepare as we would against a big nation. We will look at the videos in the next few days and figure out where it’s best to break them down and where they are vulnerable, hopefully.

“Then, it will probably require patience and having a really professional head on to focus on the game. We’ve come this far in the group and it would be terrible if we messed it up on Friday night. That means getting the win and we feel we can do that.”

Given hopes to take a full part in training for the first time this week when the squad have a run out in Barcelona this evening but he insists there is not the slightest doubt about his ability to start a game in which a slightly sore wrist is less likely to prove his undoing than a lapse in concentration.

“Check out the mountains, I suppose!” he jokes when asked how he will occupy himself if, as expected, most of the action takes place down the other end of the pitch. “For a goalkeeper it’s all about the concentration levels,” he adds more seriously. “Sometimes you come out of a game like this drained, sweating and people think: ‘what is happening there?’ But you have to be tuned in and focused as it might be a save in the last minute that protects a lead.

Ultimately, he continues, “We’re confident yeah, but it’s going to be a tricky game and pitch. We have to try and get the win no matter how it comes about. One, four, five nil, it doesn’t matter. We need three points. Hopefully, though, we can get a few goals to set us up for the game next week.”

If both go well Ireland will, at worst, be on course for a play-off which, he says, “we will need to see through this time”. Do that and Trapattoni would almost certainly be offered terms to stay too while Given and some of the more experienced players would get to play at least one more major championship.

Fall short at any point, though, and it could all be very different. When asked about the manager’s position, Given is ostensibly enthusiastic hailing the “great work” Trapattoni has done over the past few years but when he is pushed on whether the Italian’s future should be resolved immediately, he observes, “I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little bit. We have these two games, let’s see how they go. I’m sure all the rest of it will take care of itself.”

He is almost as ambivalent in the end regarding his own future when pressed on whether he might depart whenever this campaign draws to an end. “I don’t know yet,” he says, “it’s too early to say. I just know that there aren’t too many chances to qualify left so hopefully we can do it this time.”

** Members of the Irish squad will take part in an open training session at Tallaght Stadium this Saturday afternoon at 3pm. The doors at the venue will open an hour earlier and tickets for Tuesday’s game against Armenia will be on sale.