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'We won't be going out to prove Christian Eriksen wrong' | Hourihane dismisses Danes' criticisms of Ireland

Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane says Ireland will go about their business 'as they feel be...



'We won't be going out to prov...
Soccer

'We won't be going out to prove Christian Eriksen wrong' | Hourihane dismisses Danes' criticisms of Ireland

Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane says Ireland will go about their business 'as they feel best' ahead of their Euro 2020 qualifier against Denmark.

Mick McCarthy's side meet their 2017 tormentors on Friday night in Copenhagen. Ireland have not beaten the Danes in a competitive fixture since 1979.

During Martin O'Neill's tenure, Ireland suffered a 5-1 World Cup play-off defeat against Denmark at the Aviva Stadium and played out two scoreless draws against the same opposition in the Nations League last year.

Their tactics were openly criticised by the Christian Eriksen on Sky Sports after their draw last November, saying: "There was a lot of defending on their side and it is difficult to break down a team with 11 men in their own half.

"Ireland took their time on everything and were time wasting where they could. They rarely went forward and it was difficult to break them down, which is why we only have a few chances."

Speaking ahead of Friday's game, Hourihane says previous jibes at Ireland's style of play will have no impact on how they perform.

"Listen, we won't be going out to prove Christian Eriksen wrong," he said. "We'll go over there with our own gameplan. With different management, that was perhaps a different style.

"Against Georgia you could see maybe we were a bit more aggressive. We were a bit more on the front foot. That's our style of play at the minute.

"Going forward, we're not going to change that against Denmark. We have a bit of a different gameplan and style of play. We'll go about our business as we feel best."

Ireland midfielder, Conor Hourihane. Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Style Criticism

This week, Danish midfield Thomas Delaney compared Ireland's style of play to "opening a can of beans with your bare hands".

Following two consecutive draws with the Danes, Hourihane believes they will go for the win with a different approach.

"It'll be a different style of play, the style against Georgia. We won't be going there for a draw. If we get a positive result like that at the end of the game we'd be delighted.

"We'll be going to have a bit more of a go than we have had previously. Hopefully we can come back to Dublin with a good result."

Ireland have taken maximum points from their opening games against Georgia and Gibraltar. Kick-off at Telia Parken this Friday is 7.45pm.

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