Uefa Nations League Cup B4: Republic of Ireland v Wales (tonight, Dublin, 7.45pm)
REPUBLIC of Ireland defender Richard Keogh insists he never gave up on resurrecting his international career after falling out of favour for the best part of 18 months - and thanked manager Martin O’Neill for giving him some of the best days of his footballing life.
The 32-year-old's international days appeared numbered after O’Neill opted for the more youthful pair of Shane Duffy and Ciaran Clark at the heart of the Irish defence after Euro 2016.
Since then, however, Clark has suffered dips in form and lost his place after the Republic conceded four bad goals in last month’s Nations League defeat to Wales in Cardiff.
Keogh, meanwhile, has performed admirably for Frank Lampard’s Derby County this season - scoring in the penalty shoot-out win over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup - and fully justified his call-up against Denmark on Saturday night.
It’s been roughly a year-and-a-half from he last played in a competitive fixture for O’Neill and was one of the key reasons why the Irish kept a clean sheet against the Danes.
So, did Keogh believe his international days were numbered?
“No, not at all,” he replied.
“The reality is we’ve got some good players in my position who are playing in the Premier League. The manager has been fantastic with me ever since he’s been in charge. I’ve played a lot of games and he’s given me the best memories of my career, so I thank him a lot for that.
“Yes, there are times when you have to be patient. That’s just the nature of football. That doesn’t mean you don’t train well and put yourself in a position to be in the manager’s thoughts.
“It’s always been a fantastic honour for me to play for my country. Every time I get called up to the squad, regardless of whether I’m playing or not, it’s about the country doing well and supporting your team-mates.”
O’Neill is almost certain to stick with his 3-5-2 formation with central defenders Kevin Long, Shane Duffy and Keogh unlikely to be displaced for tonight’s Welsh tie.
Although the trio defended stoutly to keep the Danes at bay, Keogh agreed with his manager that they need to play with a higher defensive line.
“There are certain times in the game we definitely could have been pushing the line a little bit higher and putting a little bit more pressure on the ball earlier,” he said.
“But sometimes in that moment you might think it’s not the right thing to do, and Denmark have some pretty special players so if you make the wrong decision you can be punished.
“But there are times we need to push people ahead of us and get after the ball a little bit quicker. Hopefully we can do that. We want to make sure we’re on the front foot and playing with intensity because when we play with intensity we are a good team.”
The fact that Keogh and his defensive partners won’t be facing Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, both of whom tormented the Irish in Cardiff last month, has come as a welcome boost as the home side try to win their first game in the Nations League ahead of next month’s final tie against Denmark in Aarhus.
“Listen, Gareth Bale is a world-class player and he plays for the biggest club in the world,” said Keogh, who made his debut against Poland in 2013.
“And obviously Ramsey is a proven Premier League player. But we have to focus on us and make sure we start well. We want to get the crowd going because they are the best fans in the world. Once they get behind us it’s like an extra man for us.
“It gives us that extra bit of incentive. But you have to work hard; you tackle and do all the basics well. And if you do that a lot of things come from that.”
