OUR LISBON LIONS CAN DO THE JOB

Collins keen to build on display in Portugal and avenge Armenia loss

- BY PAUL O'HEHIR

COLLINS FOCUSED in action during Ireland's training session at Abbotstown yesterday

TIME should be a great healer but a month on from the Yerevan debacle and Nathan Collins still can't make sense of that diabolical team performance.

But what is crystal clear in his mind is that it can't happen again.

And certainly not tonight of all nights, when nothing but victory over the same opponents will suffice if Ireland are to stay alive in the World Cup race.

According to the captain, Armenia stripped the Boys in Green of their confidence in an all too easy takedown that left qualification hopes teetering on the brink.

But Heimir Hallgrimsson's men rebounded and picked an opportune time to restore some belief in the cause in Lisbon on Saturday.

Collins was arguably the most dejected of all the men in white shirts on the final whistle, reeling after Ruben Neves rendered an heroic defensive display meaningless.

But the collective work ethic was night and day to what unfolded in Yerevan, when Armenia were made to look like the higher seeds and higher ranked side.

The trick is ensuring that levels don’t plummet after Saturday's spirited and swashbuckling efforts, with Ireland entirely capable of torturing themselves in a game like this.

It's no wonder that Hallgrimsson said yesterday he would accept a “shitty” performance providing it yields three points — and Collins agrees.