Finland head coach Markku Kanerva confident of bounce back to beat Ireland

Striking similarities existed during the press conference of Finland head coach Markku Kanerva as with Ireland counterpart Heimir Hallgrimsson on the eve of their Nations League encounter at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki.

The Finland coach is also coming into this window off the back of a double defeat in his side's opening two games in September, going down 3-0 to Greece before getting beaten 2-0 against England.

Kanerva is, likewise, eager to get some points on the board to kick-start Finland’s campaign, while also keeping one eye on next year’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

And while the Finland manager has been in his role a lot longer than Hallgrimsson, he is at the beginning of a process of attempting to get his side to evolve into a more dynamic unit following the failure to qualify for Euro 2024.

September’s games – like the new Ireland head coach’s – were games one and two of the process, he explained at the pre-match press conference, while he hopes to see his side take the next step in games three and four, as they first face Ireland before welcoming England to Helsinki on Sunday.

Kanerva is expecting a tough task against Ireland, who he expects to be physical and dangerous from set-pieces, while he also emphasised that the squad contained a lot of quality players playing in the Premier League, the Championship and Scotland.

And the Finland boss did also embrace the concept of the relegation battle a bit more than his coaching counterpart and added that after two defeats there is an expectation to win the home game against fellow group strugglers.

"Ireland is a tough team. I think Ireland thinks the same way," said Kanerva. "To be able to stay in League B or to have chances to qualify to League A, they have to get