MARTIN O'Neill has insisted that his Republic of Ireland side must go all out for a win against Italy in Wednesday's Group E finale. The qualification permutations are so complex that it is hard to work out precisely what result will be required for a team to go through to the last 16, but after losing to Belgium O'Neill sees no alternative but to go for broke.
"We must go and try to win - that can be our only thought," the former Celtic manager said. "There was a thought about possibly being able to go through unbeaten with three draws.
"That is gone now, and we've a game to win. We'll throw absolutely everything into it to try and win.
"I don't think it will be as difficult as it's maybe looking from here. We're capable of breaking Italy down and we might have to only take the one chance - that might be enough."
Having already qualified thanks to winning their first two games, Italy are expected to rest some key players - especially the half-dozen players who are one yellow card away from a suspension. Italy manager Antonio Conte has said that he will "pick a side to win the match, but also to rest players". Ireland have three players one step away from being suspended - Jeff Hendrick, James McCarthy and Glenn Whelan.
Northern Ireland have a task of equal magnitude to the Republic when they take on Germany in Group C tomorrow night, and winger Jamie Ward believes that hard work will be the key to success. "It's our work rate," he told Sky Sports. "We're a hardworking team. We don't like to give people time on the ball, so it might be something a little bit different from what the Germans have experienced in the past.
Midfielder Corry Evans acknowledged that Germany are likely to have the bulk of the possession, but he too suggested that their work ethic could see his team through. "We've had probably the least possession out of the group so far," he said. "We know we're not going to dominate games with the ball.
"Our strengths are out of possession, pressing and getting around our opponents and making it difficult. The Germans might not have faced that yet and hopefully we can surprise them on Tuesday."
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