Kenny wary of 'streetwise' Greek team

Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has warned his Ireland side to be wary of the streetwise Greek team ahead of their clash on Friday night.

Ireland heads into the game with their Euro 2024 qualification hopes all but over. They are also looking to avenge their 2-1 defeat to Greece in June.

The game in Athens was also marred by controversy due to Matt Doherty's red card in the tie, which has clearly angered Kenny.

Kenny has admitted that he and his players know what they are up against ahead of the game. The Ireland boss doesn't want his players to fall into the trap that the Greeks could potentially set for Ireland in the rematch on Friday.

“They are a streetwise team; we saw that with the sending off of Matt Doherty, which was never a sending off, in terms of players throwing themselves on the ground to get him sent off," Kenny said.

“We saw players lying down in the game, six or seven players, taking minutes out of the game; we saw that in the game, and that was something that was very prevalent in the game. So they are a very streetwise, very experienced team, and we have to know what we are facing.

“It's going to be a real epic battle. Greece has been consistent over the last couple of seasons, and we've got to produce a big performance to win. We can look at Gibraltar after that and then take it into the next window."

Stephen Kenny describes Greece as streetwise. “Players threw themselves on the ground in Athens to get Matt Doherty sent off. Seven players took minutes out of game. That was very prevalent”. Doesn’t comment on Keith Andrews’ claim about Poyet’s insider knowledge. pic.twitter.com/HfKao5nEZ1

— John Fallon (@JFallonExaminer) October 12, 2023

Ireland will need several factors to go their way if they have any chance of making it to Germany. Kenny knows that making it there is out of Ireland's hands but wants his Irish side to give themselves every chance of making it to the Euro 2024 finals, starting with a win over Greece on Friday.

“The atmosphere at the home games has been really electric; people realise it's a special occasion, Ireland playing at home. We want to finish the group strongly, and we are still in contention for automatic qualification,” he added.

“It's not in our own hands; we are relying on results elsewhere. We have to see if we can take it to the November window, and the only way we can do that is by taking six points from this window.

“It may not be enough, but we'd be kicking ourselves if we didn't do that and results did happen elsewhere. We need to do our part, winning the games we need to win, and that starts with Greece on Friday."

Ireland vs Greece details