No Haaland? No problem, says Gavin Bazunu.
Having famously stood eye-to-eye with Cristiano Ronaldo before stopping the Portugal star’s penalty, names don’t faze this confident young goalkeeper. In fact, the bigger the profile, the better.
In what has been a baptism of fire since his move from Manchester City to Southampton last summer, he has faced some of the best in the world, including Haaland.
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Against his former side, Bazunu conceded four, with the Norway star putting the seal on their October win.
There won’t be a second encounter on Thursday, as injury has ruled the free-scoring Haaland out of his country’s visit to the Aviva.
Not that Bazunu is bothered.
“I mean, he’s obviously a brilliant player,” said the former Shamrock Rovers man. “I’m sure it will still be a tough match, they’ve got a lot of other good players.
“All we can do is go out there and put on our best performance against whoever is against us.
“As a player I want to face the best quality opposition I can. But as I said before they have many other quality players that they'll have at their disposal on Thursday.”
Some fans might be disappointed that they won’t get to see Haaland up close this week, but Bazunu has moved well beyond the star-struck phase of his career.
It’s all part of the routine these days for Ireland’s current number one to come up against the game’s top sharp-shooters.
And thanks to Southampton’s leaky defence, he’s getting plenty of practice.
Just last weekend it was Liverpool, with Mo Salah, Roberto Firminho and Darwin Nunez leading the line.
It was Miguel Almiron the week before, as well as Wilfried Zaha, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Manchester City’s embarrassment of attacking riches in recent times.
He has managed just one clean sheet so far in 15 Premier League appearances - but can’t be blamed for Southampton’s woeful defensive record this season.
If it wasn’t for their Tallaght keeper, things might be even worse for the Saints, whose form has seen them switch managers earlier this month.
And that’s why Bazunu is Stephen Kenny’s number one, despite the obvious quality of Caoimhin Kelleher and even a first-team return for Bournemouth’s Mark Travers.
Bazunu is getting exposure at the highest level and he is relishing the challenge, he is enjoying the opportunity to learn from each testing 90-minute display.
So no Haaland? No problem. Bazunu is exposed to quality strikers on a weekly basis.
Kelleher, on the other hand, gets the odd chance to showcase his star quality at Liverpool, as he did yet again last week in a penalty shootout win against Derby.
However, the man who makes Kenny’s starting-11 next March against France will be playing regular first-team football.
And in his first full season playing in the Premier League, Bazunu already sees improvements in his game.
“It’s been a busy couple of months,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed it, getting to play Premier League football and adapting to the speed and the level of the players.
“It’s been really enjoyable. It’s been hard work, and it’s a long road ahead.
“I think the fact that I’d been exposed to international level really helped with the step up.
“It wasn’t going from League One and straight to the top level, I’d been exposed to that quality of opposition which definitely really helped me.”
Asked how he has improved, Bazunu replied: “I think there have been many different ways - coping with the speed of the games, but also the pressure, the crowds, the scrutiny that comes with Premier League level.
“I am just taking it my stride and enjoying every moment of it.”
Southampton are second from bottom in the Premier League heading into the World Cup break.
However, Bazunu is as unflustered by their form as he is when facing some of the best strikers on the planet.;
“Just as you do with everything in this sport, you've just got to concentrate on yourself,” he said, addressing Southampton’s poor run of results.
“You've got to be selfish and think of just you and your team-mates and the group you've got on the inside.
“You've just got to block out the noise from the outside and concentrate on the task at hand.”
Back to the international stage and while most would view Bazunu as a nailed on starter for Ireland, he has too much respect for his goalkeeping pals to agree.
“I think we’ve got myself and two really really strong goalkeepers who are really talented, and all I can focus on is my own performances,” he said.
“All I can do is go and perform as well as I can every week and show the manager what I can do.
“But I am sure he is going to have a headache because we’ve got really good goalkeepers.”
He added: “I am coming in here and no matter what I have done in club football previously, looking to train as hard as I can.
“I have done all the work I can up to now and it's the manager's choice now, he decides what to do, and if I am going to be playing I will go out and perform like I normally do.
“I don't think too much about the politics or what the manager is thinking.
“Yeah. We've got a really good group between myself, Mark, Caoimhin and Dean (Kiely - goalkeeping coach). We've got a really good, strong goalkeeping group.
“We've been working together for a number of years now and anyone who watches the sessions will see that whoever's playing, the other two will support.
“We all have each other's back and we really enjoy training together.”
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