Randolph: "We never panic"

Irish international goalkeeper Darren Randolph praised his side’s approach in how they react to going behind in a game following the 2-2 draw with Slovakia at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night.

During the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Ireland went behind to both Germany and Poland, only to salvage late draws which in retrospect, proved valuable in helping the squad finish third while also securing the play-off place which ultimately saw the Boys in Green qualify for Euro 2016.

 On Tuesday night, Martin O’Neill’s side again found themselves behind, this time against fellow Euro 2016 contestants Slovakia but Randolph feels the squad’s ability to ‘never panic’ brings confidence when they find themselves in such a position. 

‘‘We’re never going to panic, not unless we’re 4-0 down to Brazil we don’t panic. If we go a goal down to any side and there are minutes left to play, we still play our own game,” Randolph explained.

“Tonight (Tuesday) we did go down but we kept playing our own game and in a matter of minutes we were in front. That gives us more confidence in our own game if anything else.’’  

Randolph was introduced to the action with barely 15 minutes on the clock following Rob Elliot’s agonizing anterior cruciate ligament injury which he picked up after twisting his knee as he attempted to stop Miroslav Stoch’s opening goal.

Elliot, who would have been in direct competition with Randolph for a starting place at the Euros will now miss the competition in its entirety after being ruled out for a number of months.

Randolph, who is now expected to be the Irish net-minder throughout the competition, expressed his sympathy for Elliot who he knows extremely well through their time together at Charlton Athletic.

‘‘I’ve grown up with him (Elliot) since I was 15 so I know him quite well. I never want to see that happen to anybody at any stage, let alone where he was as he’s been on fire. There is never a good time for it to happen, but this is probably the worst possible time,’’ the West Ham United expressed his disappointment in disappointed tone.

A recent feature of Ireland games is the ever-changing defensive line up. Not since the 1-1 draw with Poland in March 2015 has O’Neill named the same back four in consecutive matches. There has now been 10 matches with no set defence, however Randolph isn’t too concerned about this.

‘‘That’s football. They’re the same positions, just different people in those positions. They’ve all obviously been called into the squad so they’re all obviously good enough to play, so you just need to do your job when you get the chance and put in a performance,’’ Randolph continued.

The Republic of Ireland’s next game is at home to the Netherlands on May 27th followed by the visit of Belarus to Turners Cross on May 31^st, shortly before the squad jet off to Versailles where the Irish camp will be based during Euro 2016.