Wednesday 22 March 2017 11:49, UK
Republic of Ireland centre-back John O'Shea has urged his teammates not to focus too heavily on Wales star Gareth Bale.
Ireland face Wales in a World Cup Qualifier in Dublin on Friday, knowing that victory would put Martin O'Neill's men in an ideal position to book a place at Russia 2018.
O'Shea, 35, has warned his teammates to not focus solely on Bale's quality, as it could let in Chris Coleman's other Wales forwards.
"You have to just get on with it," said O'Shea. "When you're playing in the Premier League, whether it's against [Sergio] Aguero, [Harry] Kane, [Romelu] Lukaku, [Diego] Costa, there are top players there.
"The team has to get on with it. If you focus too much on one player, you forget about their other good players and they come to the fore.
"You respect him, obviously he's a very good player, he's playing for Real Madrid, but you forget about that and you get on with it to do your best against him."
The Republic head into Friday's game at the Aviva two points clear at the top of Group D having registered 10 points from a possible 12 in the campaign so far, two better off than Serbia in second and four ahead of third-placed Wales.
The squad go into the clash suffering somewhat of an injury crisis, with centre-half pair Shane Duffy and Ciaran Clark, midfielders Wes Hoolahan and Harry Arter and striker Daryl Murphy ruled out.
Everton midfielder James McCarty is also likely to miss out, while Burnley's Robbie Brady is suspended.
O'Shea, who could win his 117th cap for Ireland against Wales, has backed O'Neill's understudies to plug the gaps more than adequately.
"When different players have been injured or suspended earlier on in this campaign or the previous campaign, the players have stepped up," O'Shea added.
"That's when you talk about the atmosphere created by the manager and the coaches and players themselves. It's always positive, it's always a good feeling and there is always that respect for the player who is picked to play.
"You just want to stay in the lead when you're in the lead because if we can do that, we'll give ourselves a great chance of qualifying.
"We know that everyone wants to take a shot at you because you're the leader. We have to cope with that, but it's a nice feeling too."
Republic of Ireland face Wales in Dublin on Friday March 24, live on Sky Sports 1 HD.
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