Richard Keogh unfazed by threat of Bosnian dangerman Dzeko

Richard Keogh has made a habit of looking adversity in the eye. His response to the disappointment of losing his captaincy at Derby County in August after three seasons was to buckle down and train harder.

Having earned a place in Martin O'Neill's starting line-ups for the stark reversals of fortune which Ireland experienced against Germany and Poland in the past month, the leadership qualities which Keogh developed at Derby will be in demand in Zenica this evening.

With John O’Shea absent, Keogh’s brand of resilience and unshowy honesty and his invaluable knack for getting vital defensive touches and stretched clearances has never been more important.

When he walked into the small, noisy and crowded press room with Martin O’Neill before the Republic’s seven o’clock training session, he had time to ponder the significance of the next week.

Most of the questions were directed at O’Neill. Keogh sat in the same chair previously occupied by Edin Džeko, Bosnia’s primary attacking threat, just a few minutes earlier.

More guarded

Last week, Keogh had appraised the Roma striker with a scout’s keen eye, referencing his touch, the unexpected turn of speed and his habit of trapping the football on his chest when it seems as if he is leaping to head it. Now, on the eve of their encounter, he is more guarded and formulaic in his assessment.

“Yeah. I think the manager touched on it there,” he said of O’Neill who did little more than point out the quality of the clubs where Dzeko had played.

“He is a high-calibre player and he played at a very high team in the Premier League and I am looking forward to the challenge.”

At 28, Keogh has earned his nine senior caps through patience and consistency.

His performances in his next two games may well prove pivotal to Ireland’s success or failure to qualifying for a sixth major tournament.

Zenica was ghostly quiet as the Irish trained under floodlights but by teatime tomorrow, the town will be flooded by ardent Bosnian football fans. The atmosphere will be testing and different and hostile. But it was much the same in Warsaw and the Irish managed to silence the jubilant Poland crowd after Jon Walters’ penalty.

A brilliant header from the prolific Robert Lewandowski’s left Ireland trailing and the best chance of an improbable, unforgettable equaliser fell to Keogh. His header was saved but afterwards he was fortright in accepting responsibility for the missed opportunity.

Whatever about scoring against Bosnia, defending will be Keogh’s primary brief.

“I think any game you go into you want to keep a clean sheet for sure. We know that if we do that it gives us the best chance of finishing the game. We have so much quality in our squad all over the pitch that we can produce a goal from anywhere. We know our job in the back five is to make sure that we stand up to the challenge and to keep their danger men quiet and we know that if we can do that we can produce some magic and hopefully score a few goals.”

He expects Bosnia to attack early and with the kind of confidence and energy that a zealous home crowd and play-off environments produce. Hell for leather, in other words.

Massive games

“They are at home and obviously they are going to try and make that advantage count.

“But as professionals we have a lot of experience in big games and have to use that. As well as that, Martin and Roy have played in massive, massive games for their clubs and country and we can learn from them. We just have to try and enjoy ourselves on the pitch and and do ourselves justice and try and keep the ball.We have to do our work and do the country proud and hopefully bring home a positive result.”