John Egan is dreaming of another Ireland goal after being told he must have a magnet on his head!
The stand-in skipper will lead the side out against Greece in Athens tonight as captain Seamus Coleman is recovering from the serious knee injury he shipped with Everton.
Egan, 30, is heading back to the Premier League with promoted Sheffield United next season and will face one of his Blades team-mates tonight.
George Baldock is English-born, but qualifies for Greece through his late grandmother and has been an ever present in Gus Poyet’s team since making his debut last year.
And the right-back has warned his team-mates of centre-back Egan’s threat in opposing boxes having scored goals against Portugal, Scotland and Armenia.
Baldock said last night: “John is a great friend of mine. He spent a lot of the season as captain when Billy Sharp wasn’t available. He’s a fantastic leader and person.
“He’s a danger from set-pieces. He must have a magnet on his head to attract the ball from set-pieces. We have to worry about it.”
Egan laughed at Baldock’s magnet reference but will put the pals act to one side tonight as Ireland chase a much needed win.
“Playing for your country is the pinnacle really and having the feeling of scoring a goal for your country is probably the best feeling I've had,” he said.
“We're a very patriotic country and we love playing for Ireland - we're blessed to be playing for Ireland.
“As a centre back, if we get into the box and try to chip in with goals it helps the whole team.
“We work a lot on our set pieces and on the night if we get a chance to get up there, we want to get on it and try to make it count.”
All three of Egan’s international goals put Ireland into 1-0 leads but it was bittersweet away to Portugal and Glasgow as the Boys in Green blew those advantages and lost.
But the defender feels Ireland have learned lessons from those experiences as they try to get over the line in sticky Athens.
“We have a lot of belief in ourselves as a group and do a lot of work off the pitch to get it right on the pitch,” he said.
“We have prepared for this game really well and we're not looking past it.
“We know it's going to be tough as Greece are a good side and we're going out there to try and give a 100% performance that we're capable of.”
And Egan feels there is no room for excuses tonight after giving Ireland’s nine-day training camp in Turkey the thumbs up.
“A lot of preparation has gone into preparing for this game,” Egan continued.
“We had a really good training camp, which was very important to get everyone back together after the season and just hone in on what we do here as a group.
“The manager and the staff have been brilliant and we are raring to go and looking forward to the game.”
Ireland’s hopes will be pinned on Evan Ferguson stepping up to produce the goods having scored on his first start in the Latvia friendly.
And the teenager will look to finish a stunning breakthrough season with Brighton - where he scored 10 first-team goals - in style here in the Greek capital.
Egan said of the Brighton hot-shot: “As the experienced lads in the group, we try and welcome the young lads in.
“They come in with a lot of energy and are eager to impress. It's an easy group to come into and settle into because of the environment.
“We’ve had a lot of young players come in in the last couple of years and they are showing every camp how much they are improving and emerging as leaders.”
READ NEXT:
Conor McGregor denies claims he sexually assaulted woman inside men's bathroom at basketball game
Olympian Sarah Lavin's heartbreak over the loss of her partner Craig Breen
Roy Keane jokes of beheading Alex Ferguson during Blarney Castle visit
Jim Gavin appears on Leaving Cert higher level Business exam
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
