Nathan Collins happy to see Ireland carry momentum into World Cup qualifying

Independent

a day ago

Nathan Collins is relishing the prospect of heading into the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualification campaign with momentum despite surviving a scare in Luxembourg.
Heimir Hallgrimsson's men brought down the curtain on their season's fixtures with a disappointing 0-0 friendly draw with the nation ranked 91st by FIFA on Tuesday evening, in the process extending their modest unbeaten run to four games.
They will have to be significantly better if they are to emerge from September's opening qualifiers against Hungary in Dublin and Armenia in Yerevan with positive results, but the fact that they will set out having lost just once in six games is a huge plus for Brentford defender Collins.
He said: 'When we come back in September we're going in with great momentum. We haven't lost.
'We know there are more things to work on, we know there are things we can get better at, but at the end of the day, going in unbeaten in the last four, going into a qualifier, I've never experienced that myself. It will be a nice feeling.'
Asked how big the Hungary game will be, Collins added: 'I can't wait for it. The fans will be at it. What we've created, the bond with the fans, is great.
'I'm looking forward to be back at the Aviva, hunger straight off the bat. We've a massive game.'
That said Collins, who captained Ireland at the Stade de Luxembourg, knows they are slightly fortunate to have preserved their unbeaten run after a difficult evening, somewhat unexpectedly so after Friday night's encouraging display in a 1-1 draw with Senegal at the Aviva Stadium.
Had it not been for Bristol City keeper Max O'Leary, who made vital saves from Danel Sinani and substitute Vincent Thill on his senior international debut six years after his first call-up, Hallgrimsson's men might have lost.
They might have won too with both Collins and substitute Jack Taylor hitting the woodwork, but that would perhaps have been unjust.
Collins admitted: 'We're lucky that it still carries momentum. The way we played, we could have lost that. We didn't deserve to win, but to sit in and defend the way we did, we didn't deserve to lose.
'Credit to Max O'Leary, he's been in the camp a long time and not got his caps, but he made two great saves. (Matt Doherty) got a tackle in and (Jason Knight) was class in front (of the back four).
'We weren't at our best, but we defended well, dug in and had our chances. We wanted to be not as passive and wanted to get after them more, but we weren't at that.
'Considering how we were nowhere near our best, we still dug out a clean sheet. But we all know that was nowhere near our best and we have so much more to give.'