Whelan says Ireland won’t go gung-ho

Glenn Whelan insists that the Republic of Ireland will not eopardise their Euro 2012 dreams by taking a gung-ho approach to their must-win clash with Slovakia.

Giovanni Trapattoni’s men face the Slovakians in Dublin tomorrow night knowing victory would keep them firmly in the race for automatic qualification from Group B and send them into Tuesday’s potentially-decisive clash with Russia in Moscow full of confidence.

However, the 72-year-old Italian’s game-plan has rarely wavered during his tenure to date and Stoke midfielder Whelan is not expecting any significant change in emphasis as the campaign nears its climax.

He said: “You don’t want to be gung-ho and 2-0, 3-0 down after 10, 15 minutes. We have to go into the game the way we have done before, hard to beat, and then hopefully we can get a few goals ourselves. But we know we need to win if we want to get out of the group. We are trying to get three points.

“With the manager we have got, I don’t think he has ever put us into a game going out for a draw. We have always gone out to win, and hopefully we can do that on Friday.”

Group B could hardly be any more finely balanced with the Republic, Russia and Slovakia all level at the top of the table on 13 points. Russia won 3-2 in Dublin in October and four days later, Ireland drew 1-1 in Slovakia. However, back-to-back wins over Macedonia have kept Trapattoni’s men firmly in the race, although they know three points tomorrow are vital if they are to keep alive their hopes of emerging as group winners.