EURO 2012 QUALIFIERS RUSSIA v REP OF IRELAND: Darren O'Dea, likely to replace Seán St Ledger tommorow, is remarkably confident ahead of the meeting with Russia, writes EMMET MALONE

HAVING WATCHED a year ago as the Republic of Ireland took an hour-long pasting from Russia in the home game, Darren O’Dea could be forgiven if he felt a certain amount of trepidation about the prospect of filling the vacancy created by Seán St Ledger’s suspension for the return European Championship qualifier against the group leaders here in Moscow tomorrow.

If he does, the 24-year-old hides it well as he reflects on his chances of playing, Ireland winning and, ultimately, Giovanni Trapattoni’s side making it safely though to next summer’s finals in Poland and Ukraine.

O’Dea, of course, has always been an impressively assured character. While still a teenager he won praise from all sides for his performance for Celtic against Milan at the San Siro in the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

He has had a few career highlights since, not least scoring in the League Cup final against Rangers that his club won a couple of years back.

His career at Celtic, though, has been strangely erratic and while he captained the team for a few weeks at the start of last year, he has played most of his first-team football in recent season with clubs in the English Championship. Currently he is at Leeds United on a season-long loan, a move he pushed for after realising he was not going to advance his case for more regular international recognition via the first team at Parkhead.

He went to Elland Road at the start of last month expecting to play as a left back but injuries to others have allowed him to switch to his much preferred central-defensive role and he is clearly excited about the chance to feature there again for his country tomorrow night. “It’s disappointing to see that Ledge is out,” he says, “but to get another chance, in a massive game in a massive arena is obviously something to look forward to.”

It seems a daunting prospect, playing Russia in Moscow but the Dubliner seems dubious about the prospect of the local fans managing anything that would unnerve someone who has cut his teeth in Old Firm football.

“Intimidating atmosphere?” he says dryly. “I’m well used to intimidating atmospheres – you get one of them every time you go into a restaurant in Glasgow.”

Coping is one thing, while winning is another but O’Dea feels the criticism levelled at the team in the wake of last Friday night’s failure to beat Slovakia has been excessive and retains an apparently unshakable belief in Trapattoni and his team-mates’ ability to secure what would seem a far more unlikely victory on the Luzhniki Stadium’s plastic pitch.

“Nothing went majorly wrong the other night,” he says, “we just didn’t win. But as a team we defended well, we didn’t concede, we had chances – good chances – to win. We needed maybe a tiny bit of luck. We are still very much alive and there is not one bit of doubt in the squad that we can go over there, get a good result and still qualify. I still have absolutely no doubt that next summer we will be in Poland and Ukraine.”

The path there may not be pretty, he concedes, with the Irish team’s doggedness and determination likely to be their chief assets rather than any suddenly-acquired ability to pass their way past the opposition. O’Dea, though, is convinced a late charge in the group would win over disgruntled fans whose first priority, he insists, is to see the team succeed.

“Friday’s definitely wasn’t the most entertaining game but, truthfully, we’re not really here to entertain,” he says, echoing his manager. “There is show and there is three points . . . If we qualify everyone will be happy, there’ll not be one person saying ‘well I’m not happy with the quality of football’. They’ll be supporting the team like they always have.”

The difficulty, though, is that the team have found it so difficult to beat quality opposition even when providing entertainment is well down the priority list and there is a lingering concern that matters will not be any better in Moscow against a side that comprehensively over-ran Ireland for the bulk of last year’s encounter thanks in part to coach Dick Advocaat’s decision to play an extra man in midfield.

Trapattoni said then the approach would need to be countered this time but the Italian continues to sound vague regarding just how it is he intends to do it. The young defender, though, maintains it may not be a decisive factor, pointing to various Celtic successes in comparable circumstances.

If Ireland’s reshaped back four can extend the run of clean sheets to seven tomorrow then O’Dea and company will be in with a shout of causing an upset. He points to the fact so many different players have featured in the games against the likes of Macedonia, Italy and Croatia as evidence the depth required to cope with the loss of John O’Shea and St Ledger is now available to the manager.

“I only realised when I was looking at it last night that in the six games it’s not been the same back four in any of the games. It’s a testament to the manager and the coaching staff that whoever goes in there knows exactly what they’re doing. I think it’s a testament to the team as well that all of the players have a fantastic work ethic and work-rate and desire. That takes a lot of the pressure off the defenders.”

He might find Russia will still manage to exert a bit of pressure tomorrow but rest assured, he’s confident they’ll cope.