D Wednesday, November 18, 2009 METROSPORT 23 Ireland to remain calmBy DaviD kenneDy Hands-on management: ireland boss Trapattoni outlines his plans to defeat France in Paris tonight premier league Giovanni TrapaTToni is confi- dent his republic of ireland players will not allow their anger to boil over as they attempt to pull off a shock win over France in paris and reach the World Cup finals. Saturdays 1-0 play-off, first leg de- feat by Les Bleus in Dublin was fol- lowed by a series of furious confron- tations on the pitch at Croke park. irelands players were infuriated by alleged comments made by Frances real Madrid midfielder Lassana Di- arra to Keith andrews, which he has since denied making. But Trapattoni insists his side will not lose their heads in the Stade de France as they try to overcome a 1-0 deficit. He said: i played football too and i know what happens. players in games are always under pressure and sometimes they dont know what hap- pens in these moments. i am sure we and also the French players have forgotten all about it. i have said to the players, these games are for warm hearts and cool heads. We must play with cool heads, but warm hearts. With feet, we can score goals. if we keep cool heads, we can use our feet to score goals. Trapattoni has hinted he will field the same team as the one which started at Croke park, and that would mean an- other start for Stoke midfielder Liam Lawrence on the right at the expense of Celtics aiden McGeady. ireland know they will have to score once and probably at least twice to stand a chance of going through in paris. They did register in four of their five away games during their qualify- ing group, and although Trapattonis favoured approach is based on defen- sive resilience from front to back, he is confident they can do so once again. He said: We cannot lose our heads in this situation, we need to be calm, but i will not sit on the bench without trying everything. We cant let the game finish and not get a result be- cause i havent changed things. But we must not forget, in many, many finals in the World Cup or the Champions League, the very impor- tant games, there are not many goals. in the very important games, teams do not score three, four or five goals. its very, very difficult. We still have 90 minutes. i have told the players they must believe we can do it and achieve this qualification. Picture: Action Images Rousing return: Gerrard rescued Liverpool as a substitute in their last game with Birmingham RePuBLic oF iReLanD: Shay Given (Man C); John OShea (Man U), Sean St Ledger (Mboro), Richard Dunne (Man C), Kevin Kilbane (Hull); Liam Lawrence (Stoke), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Keith Andrews (Blackburn), Damien Duff (Fulham); Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Robbie Keane (Tottenham, capt). FRance: Hugo Lloris (Lyon); Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), William Gallas (Arsenal), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla), Patrice Evra (Man U); Lassana Diarra (R Madrid), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux); Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Thierry Henry (Barcelona); Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse). Gerrard gears up to save Liverpools fading hopes LivErpooL are poised to welcome captain Steven Gerrard back into their starting line-up against Manchester City on Saturday but will have to do without key striker Fernando Torres once again. reds skipper Gerrard has responded well to treatment on his nagging groin injury and could be joined in the squad for the crucial premier League clash by Glen Johnson and Daniel agger. Johnson missed Englands friendly defeat by Brazil with a hamstring injury while agger has had a back problem. But it is the good news on Gerrard which will particularly please boss rafael Benitez, who badly needs a victory with his side having won just one of their last nine matches in all competitions. The midfielder could start against City after coming off the bench to score the equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Birmingham nine days ago. The 29-year-old said: i felt very tired after that game as i wasnt really ready to return id done very little training. it took me two or three days to recover but im feeling a lot better now. its a case of so far, so good and the aim now is to make sure i get a good weeks training under my belt so im ready for the game with City. But Benitez is preparing for Torres to be missing again with a groin injury, adding: i dont think hell be available. Sir Alex Fergusons two-game touchline ban will not make any difference to Manchester United, according to Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic. He said: i dont think there will be a big difference. We know what is waiting for us and what he expects of us nothing changes. probable teams index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html