Club battle on hold as Collins eyes Belgium victory

Nathan Collins has echoed interim manager John O'Shea’s call for a return to winning ways as Ireland get set to take on Belgium on Saturday.

A friendly encounter with nothing to play for, and yet there is a significance to the contest, as this emerging Ireland side are looking to take one giant step forward after losing momentum over the past 12 months.

It all began with an exhilarating performance at home to the World Cup finalists, France, in March 2023, and a lot of positives came from the narrow defeat with Didier Deschamps’ elite side clinging on at the end to claim a 1-0 victory.

But things did not progress for Stephen Kenny’s side, and from there it was bad result followed by bad result until Euro 2024 qualification was ruled out, which ultimately cost the manager his job.

Stand-in manager O’Shea has been tasked to set the team off on the right path before a successor is named in April and the talk from the camp all week has been focused on winning games.

No talk of possession football, playing our from the back or working the ball through the lines, but rather keeping clean sheets, learning how to win games, while creating a winning mentality.

And the players are in no doubt about what is expected of them this week, albeit taking on a very good Belgium side who will be in full preparation for the summer’s tournament in Germany.

"To win," said Collins, when asked what is the most important thing to take from this week. "It’s football at the end of the day. Every game is about winning, no matter what it is. As much as it’s experience for the lads and good for them to be in the group, at the end of the day we need to win games.

"I want to play for Ireland, I want to do everything I can for Ireland. I want to captain