JIM CRAWFORD HAS described his side’s European Championship qualifier with Montenegro on Monday as the biggest game in the history of Republic of Ireland U21 football.
Qualification for the first time is well within sight with automatic progress as group winners still a possibility, while a play-off can also be secured.
Ireland moved to within one point of both Italy and Sweden following a 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, and have a game in hand on the latter.
The top two play each other on Thursday, with Ireland’s last fixture in the group an away trip to face the Italians.
But before they can consider the nitty-gritty of various permutations, Crawford knows they must beat Montenegro at Tallaght Stadium on Monday.
“Yeah, job done [against Bosnia], it wasn’t anything vintage for sure, there was some ring rust still there. To win the game was always the objective. To keep a clean sheet and to score three goals against a decent enough team.
“I know a couple of more experienced players didn’t travel with them. So that was that really. It was an okay performance. We’re happy, it sets us up for — there is no doubt about it — the biggest game for 21s football. The lads know that, we had a chat with the lads.
“For me, history. Three points on Monday and then Sweden play Italy. That’s out of our hands but it will give us an idea of what we’ve got to do. The problem is now, June is always a difficult window for UK-based players.
“Now to play two games in three days is going to be a challenge. The lads are motivated, they’ve been great since the first ball was kicked in this campaign.”
Will Smallbone, scorer of a brace in the win over Bosnia is also targeting top spot ahead of a crucial period for this team.
“We have put ourselves in such a good situation that it would be a shame to see it finish. We started well today and on Monday if we can get another good turnout from the fans, I think they helped us tonight, that would really help us going into the final game against Italy.
“I think the aim obviously is to top the group and get through straight away, but we understand how good Italy are as a side. There is no reason, like we showed here, I think we were with them all the way through until they scored late on and we had a chance with Ross [Tierney]. If we can get two good wins here in Tallaght to take out there, it would give us a chance.”
Ireland are on a three-game winning run in the group and Smallbone is adamant they can continue that form by taking maximum points from their remaining two games.
“Yeah, for sure. I don’t see why not with the quality we’ve got in here. It’s a good group and we’ve left ourselves so close to qualifying, I don’t see why we should fear anyone really.
“Maybe it wasn’t our best performance tonight, but if we can win not playing our best, keep a clean sheet and score three goals, I think it’s a fairly good sign that we are doing something right and heading in the right direction.”
