Latvia and Southampton legend Marian Pahars talks Roy Keane, Gavin Bazunu and facing Ireland

Last time former Southampton striker Marian Pahars found himself pitchside at the Aviva Stadium, it wasn't a particularly happy occasion for him nor for his country.

The Latvia legend was managing his national team back in November 2013 on what was a notable staging point for Irish football.

It was the opening night for the Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane era as the high-profile management team took charge of the Boys in Green for the first time.

"I remember 10 years ago, it was a different speed, a different quality and I don't want to remember that game to be fair because they demolished us 3-0," Pahars quipped to RTÉ Sport pitchside at the Aviva Stadium as Latvia completed their training session on the eve of Wednesday night's friendly between the two sides which will be live across RTÉ platforms including RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player.

The 46-year-old, who scored 15 international goals in 75 caps for Latvia between 1996 and 2007 and was part of the squad for their only major tournament appearance at Euro 2004, is currently one of the assistant coaches to current manager Dainis Kazakevics - a role he is relishing due to the focus on pitch work - as well as being a technical director of their football federation.

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He is hopeful that his country, who have earned promotion from League D of the UEFA Nations League, can give a better account of themselves this time than they did in 2013.

"I hope we made some learnings out of that game and we expect a better game tomorrow and we expect (it to