Stephen Kenny has called on his Ireland players to produce ‘something extraordinary’ against France tomorrow.
And defender Nathan Collins insists the squad are ‘ready to go to war’ for their manager in the opening Euro qualifier.
Collins said: “I can't speak highly enough of the gaffer, Keith Andrews and all the backroom staff. They've been unbelievable and we're going to war for him.”
World Cup finalists France destroyed the Netherlands 4-0 on Friday to show just how daunting a task it is.
But Kenny has vowed to take the fight to Kylian Mbappe’s Les Blues and has no intention of sitting in to defend.
Kenny said: “I don’t need to make a rallying cry as it’s a very special occasion with France coming to town.
“They have the best player in the world, and a lot of great players, so it’s an intriguing challenge for us but one we must strive to overcome.”
Kenny warned: “People can think they’re in the game against France but they can be devastating and hurt you.
“The difference with us is that we’re very comfortable in possession. All of our players can handle the ball.
“There was an evolutionary stage when we were playing out from the back. There was a bit of uncertainty when we were starting - people could sense it.
“The crowd were saying we can’t play out, it’s not in our DNA, it’s not in our culture to play out like that. All this sort of stuff.
“People had those observations that the players weren’t good enough. Now you can see how comfortable we are playing out.”
Kenny appreciates there is a high degree of risk being so bold against one of the world’s best sides - but is backing his players.
“Playing out under extreme pressure against top players who are electric has a higher risk, but we’ll absolutely have conviction about what we’re doing,” he continued.
“There’s absolutely no doubt about how we’re going to play, but at the same time we have to make provision for their threats.
“We don’t play in a low block, that’s not part of the team we’ve assembled.
“We don’t assume that because a team is superior to us, we’ll just have much less possession, defend deep and hopefully get a break or play on the counter.
“We don’t have to do that, but we’re not naïve enough to suggest that France don’t have really exceptional threats.
“We won’t fool ourselves into thinking that if we’re stringing some passes together that we’re in the ascendancy because France can be really devastating on the break.
“We’re going to have to do something extraordinary to get a result. But I believe in the players and I believe in the way the team has grown and it’ll be a special occasion.”
And Kenny is calling on Ireland fans to raise the roof at Aviva Stadium and make the night as uncomfortable as possible for France.
“The atmosphere will be electric tomorrow night and we’ll need the crowd,” he added. “They’ll be hugely important for a game like this.”
