John Egan: Ireland learning to handle the pressure

Republic of Ireland defender John Egan believes that the side are starting to show that they can handle the pressure as they prepare to face the Hampden Park bear-pit on Saturday evening.

June's 3-0 UEFA Nations League dismissal of Scotland at the Aviva was a sign of the side’s growing maturity, according to the Sheffield United player, but their character will be tested to the full in front of what is sure to be a boisterous home crowd intent on helping their team to earn revenge for that Dublin disappointment.

"It was definitely a big performance and a big result to go with it," Egan said of that Scotland win.

"We had some really good performances and just got edged out like Portugal away. To put in that performance on the back of two defeats [1-0 losses to Armenia and Ukraine] showed the character in the group.

"We went into that game under a lot of pressure and we delivered. We're looking to improve every time we meet up, that's got to be the aim for everyone, and as a team, we want to keep moving forward, keep getting better, and we're looking to take another step forward tomorrow night."

Scotland head into the game on the back of a highly-impressive 3-0 win over Ukraine on Wednesday, but Egan said that it didn't change their preparations too much.

"We go into every game looking to be on the front foot and trying to get the points.

"We all know Scotland had a good performance the other night, it was a good result for them but we're just focused on ourselves.

"We are looking forward to the game tomorrow night, we've a lot of belief in the squad and we are rearing to go."

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