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O’Neill hopeful as O’Shea and Long resume training

One player the Republic will need to keep a close eye on is Bosnia winger Edin Visca, who produced an impressive display in the first leg at the Bilino Polje Stadium, creating Edin Dzeko’s late equaliser.

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Improved options O’Neill does at least look to have somewhat improved options as he looks to secure qualification and the accompanying millions in prize money for his employers, with Jon Walters returning from suspension while John O’Shea and Shane Long come into contention after getting through training yesterday.

However, O’Neill, who headed for Bosnia targeting an away goal, is refusing to accept that the Republic are now favourites to join England, Northern Ireland and Wales in France next summer.

‘We have to consider being on the front foot and try to win the game, ‘ he said.

“These games are the best games I’ve ever experienced and to qualify would be a dream of ours and an opportunity that we can’t let slide”.

Other than against minnows Gibraltar, goals have been at a premium during the campaign with Ireland managing just eight in their remaining eight group games before Brady’s effort in Bosnia and scoring a few times in only their 2-1 opening day win in Georgia.

“We might be lacking certain things but in terms of desire and wanting to go out and compete, that sort of performance tonight epitomised that”, added O’Neill.

“He is very modest but it was a great boost for us to get that goal and it keeps us alive and keeps us going”.

The hosts hit Ireland down the flanks with the lively Edin Visca doing most of the damage, while Senad Lulic kept pulling Seamus Coleman inside, leaving huge space for Ervin Zukanovic to bomb down the left, rarely tracked by Hendrick.

“It is a massive game and the incentive to get to the finals is something that really drives us forward”.

Republic of Ireland have scored exactly one goal in each of their last four internationals and have failed to find the back of the net in just one of their last nine. “I think he could cause problems to anybody”. O’Neill had highlighted the importance of an away goal in the build up to this game, something that may have influenced Bosnia’s defensively minded line-up that had surprised the locals.

Perhaps if it was only the top two who qualified, we would have seen a much more gung-ho approach to the game in Poland. “Shane, perhaps, less”, O’Neill said.

There is also a case for deploying O’Shea at left-back instead but O’Neill rejects the notion that Ward is a weakness that Bosnia deliberately exploited in the first leg and could do so again in Dublin. And we are still fighting.

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“We will go out and, hopefully, go for it. As the boss said, we can’t sit back and let them come at us because they are good players, they have a lot of dangers in their side, it’s going to be a tough game for us but hopefully we can make it just as tough for them”.

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