Molumby set for massive clash with England

Waterford native Jayson Molumby believes that the Republic of Ireland need to make life difficult for England ahead of tomorrow’s UEFA Nations League clash at the Aviva Stadium in the first game under new management.

The West Brom Albion midfielder missed a considerable amount of playing time after picking up s foot injury at the end of last year that ruled him out of action for club and country including the four friendly matches under interim boss John O’Shea.

With O’Shea and new Head Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson set to take charge of Ireland for the first-time since their appointment, Molumby believes that the team need to make life “uncomfortable” for Lee Carsley’s men in the Nations League opener.

“Obviously playing at home you want to make it as uncomfortable as possible for everyone. The atmosphere itself will do that. As players, as well, that is probably a strength of mine where I try and make it uncomfortable for players.

“I like to get tight to people, leave a bit on people, let them know I‘m there. So, yeah, that’s probably a big part of my game, try and put energy into the game, give the team a lift.” The 25-year-old went eight months without football due to a foot injury, but now he is happy to be back, but warns that there’s to be “no more excuses” from this Irish team.

“It was a nightmare, a killer. Any big injury, you don’t know how it’s going to go, do you? You don’t know if you’re going to get back to the level. You don’t know if it’ll heal properly because that’s always a risk with surgery. Yeah, it was a bit of a worry, but all good now.

“There’s no more excuses for us anymore. We were young lads coming in but now we’ve got the experience. It’s not good enough any more to say, ‘Ah, you’re young or whatever, you know’. We’re experienced now at international level. It’s time to kick on for us.”