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Keane replaced Shane Long for the final 35 minutes but couldn't find a breakthrough. Tony Marshall
Move On

'We have a great chance regardless of who we get' - Robbie rallies Ireland for the playoffs

Keane wants Ireland’s new boys to secure their major championship debut in France.

Niall Kelly reports from Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw

ROBBIE KEANE URGED his Ireland team-mates to forget about their Poland pain and focus on the prize that’s still up for grabs.

Sunday night’s defeat in Poland means that the Boys in Green are unlikely to be seeded when the draw for the Euro 2016 playoffs is made next weekend.

But Ireland’s captain believes that they will be a match for any team.

“Obviously everybody’s disappointed,” Keane said after the 2-1 loss, Ireland’s first in a competitive game since November 2014.

“It’s only natural when you feel that you’ve got a chance to get something out of the game.”

He added:

I think what we have to do is to forget about it as much as we can. I know it’s difficult but we have to try.

“We said at the end there — we’ve got a playoff and if you looked at the group overall back at the start of the campaign, would you have accepted third spot at the time? People would probably have said yeah.

“When you’re in with a chance and you think you can take second spot, then of course it’s a disappointment, but I think that we have to try to move on as quickly as possible.”

Seven of the Irish players involved against Poland have yet to experience a major championship, and Keane hopes their hunger will help them to bounce back from the disappointment.

“Some players never get get the opportunity to play in these competitions. We’ve been lucky enough that we have quite a few who know what it’s like, the atmosphere that gets created around it for everybody.

To have a European Championship on your CV, that’s an opportunity that the lads certainly have to be mindful of.

“We all have to go on thinking that we have a great chance regardless of who we get (in the playoffs) because we’re a good team.”

‘I should have gone to the other corner’ – Richard Keogh rues his missed chance

3 talking points from Ireland’s disappointing loss to Poland

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