Collective effort needed to beat England, says Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson

Heimir Hallgrimsson believes that if Ireland are to have any chance of beating England, it will have to be a collective effort from his players.

Ireland open their UEFA Nations League campaign with a home clash against the old enemy at Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening, which is Hallgrimsson's first game in charge of the national team since taking over from John O’Shea in the summer.

The new man in charge was quick to emphasise that, on paper, England have a superior side, however, he was not ruling out the possibility of his side causing a shock against the team ranked fourth in the world and coming into the game off the back of an appearance at the Euro 2024 final in July.

England do, however, arrive into this game with a new man at the helm following Gareth Southgate’s exit following the Euros final defeat to Spain, while they are also missing several key players, including Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, and Ollie Watkins.

And speaking at the pre-match press conference, Hallgrimsson looked quietly optimistic that his side could make things difficult for the visitors.

"If Ireland has a chance to beat England, that’s collective, for sure," said Hallgrimsson. "Man for man, gung ho, probably nine out of ten, England would win.

"So we need to play collective against them, and that is going to be the way to win the match tomorrow."

However, Hallgrimsson was quick to point out the reality of the situation, admitting that he was expecting to have a lot less possession than Lee Carsley's side.

"If you play the game in your head, probably England will have more possession than us, so defensively we need to be really solid, taking the chances that we get, whenever we have the chance to play attacking football, go higher up the pitch. We've