According to former striker John Aldridge, Ireland has played in some scary stadiums throughout the years, but the new Wembley Stadium isn’t one of them. He thinks the Nations League on Sunday afternoon will be a great game for Evan Ferguson and his colleagues.
With nothing at stake other than pride, given that Thursday’s outcome eliminated the possibility of automatic relegation to League C and ensured a relegation play-off position, he has tipped Ireland to excel now that the pressure is off.
Four center-halves—Dara O’Shea, Nathan Collins, Mark McGuinness, and Liam Scales—are in the starting lineup for Heimir Hallgrímsson’s defensive team.
Together with Callum O’Dowda on the left side of defence, they might be able to form a back-five. Festy Ebosele, Josh Cullen, Jayson Molumby, Evan Ferguson, and Sammie Szmodics round out the eleven, with Caoimhin Kelleher once again receiving the nod in goal.
“It’s a good stage for the lads to show up,” Aldridge said, encouraging the players to embrace the moment. “Wembley isn’t a scary place to visit Under Jack (Charlton), we have travelled to Turkey and other locations, and each time was utterly amazing—it was nuts.
The atmosphere at Wembley is nice, but it’s not like a cup final. I’m hoping the manager will get us started properly.
