David Forde remains confident about the future

Shay Given may not have spent as much time as he would have liked to actively chasing trophies at club level during his time with Ireland but they were glamorous times at the likes of Newcastle, Manchester City and Aston Villa compared to those currently being endured by David Forde.

The current Republic of Ireland number one was in Dublin yesterday along with women’s international Stephanie Roche to launch the Aviva Health-sponsored Primary School Fives and he must have welcomed the break.

Back in England, his club Millwall are just one point and one place above the Championship drop zone. Over here, he got the chance to talk about the prospects of being at aEuropean championship with Ireland in a couple of year's time.

Remains confident
Forde may be 34 and flirting with life in League One, but he remains confident about the future without coming across as arrogant in the slightest.

He still hopes to play in the Premier league some day and, having spent Euro 2012 in a couple of different dugouts, dreams of featuring at a major championship. At least now, he says, he and his Irish team- mates know what they must do to get to France.

“It’s going to be difficult,” he readily acknowledges, “it’s a tough group. Germany are the top seeds, deservedly, and then I suppose you are looking at ourselves, Scotland and Poland. It’s probably a flick of a coin, something that will go down to form and injuries. I think it will be a tight group that will go down to the wire.

“With the two automatic qualification places, though, it has opened right up. There is a fantastic opportunity there.” Around five points from the games in Georgia, Scotland and Germany before Christmas is the sort of basis from which qualification could be secured, he reckons.

Many have argued that the two guaranteed places in each group plus five that are up for grabs from amongst the third placed sides have made things too easy and Forde admits that there was something to the old chestnut about the standard being higher in the European Championships than in the World Cup.

“It certainly showed when we went over there (to Poland). What a group that was.”

Given was number one then and, notionally at least, could be again but Forde says he is entirely unconcerned by all the talk of the Donegalman returning.

“I didn’t really get into too much,” he says. “It didn’t really bother me.

“All I can do is my best but I’ve been very pleased with the way I’ve performed for Ireland and I feel that every time I put the shirt on and play I feel stronger and that there’s more improvement in me. I think I can still kick on.”

Whether it's at Millwall remains to be seen. Talks about a new contract appear to have stalled after an offer he felt was "inappropriate" was rebuffed but the Galwayman sounds like he wants to stay and says manager Ian Holloway has told him he is keen to keep him.

Finding the best form
Both he and the team could do with finding the best form for each other over the coming weeks although Forde maintains his international career could survive a drop to the England game's third tier: "I suppose it depends on the manager but I've shown in the past that whatever level I'm playing at I can still do the business."

Martin O’Neill might have other ideas but so far Forde has somehow managed to overcome every setback and it would be brave to bet against him still being in possession of the jersey when those finals come around in the summer of 2016.