IRELAND APPROACH WEDNESDAY’S opening World Cup qualifier away to Serbia in the slough of appalling form: they are winless in eight games under Stephen Kenny, scoring just once. 

That came in the opening game away to Bulgaria, meaning Ireland will kick off their World Cup campaign amid the worst goalless run in their history, currently standing at 660 minutes. 

It is a run that caveated by abnormal fortune, however, as Kenny’s squad has been hit by 12 withdrawals due to Covid-19 along with a host of other injuries and suspensions. Callum Robinson has been among the players most affected: he hasn’t played for Ireland since the Euro 2020 play-off defeat to Slovakia, having been deemed a close contact on the flight home, and he then tested positive for the virus a month later and missed the three games of the November window.

Back in the squad ahead of this week’s qualifiers, Robinson is eager to make an impression. 

“I just have to hope that the gaffer knows that I’ve got the ability. I’ve been quite unlucky with all the Covid stuff in the last few trips. Hopefully, he knows what I can do for him and how I can help the team and progress and get ourselves to the World Cup.” 

This is a new campaign, but are the Irish squad weighed down by the their poor record, particularly the goal drought? 

“I can only speak for myself and I don’t think it should [weigh the squad down]. Like I said, you start panicking when you’re not actually getting the chances but we are getting some good chances.

“Obviously (a lot of players) missed the last few games for Covid reasons which was annoying. That’s been hard for the gaffer as well. You’ve got to remember, it was something like 14 or 15 players missing for the last game of last year from the squad that he had originally picked.

“And so it’s tough, the team’s changing all the time because of all the Covid stuff and we can’t help that. So it’s tough and I know that everyone’s having to deal with it but to be down something like 14 or 15 players he had picked in his first squad for that last game and have to make all those changes is tough.

“But I don’t think that anyone should be down about it. So I’m not personally down and while I can’t speak for everyone I don’t think there should be any more pressure at all.”

Robinson stressed his versatility when asked for his favoured position – saying he is happy playing anywhere across the front three – and played on the right in Slovakia, the game in which Robinson says Ireland showed their potential.  

“We need to just play and hopefully score. I said before the Slovakia game in one of these that I was confident and I was and I thought we did really well that night. We were unlucky to lose on penalties but I thought that we created chances, we did really well, broke Slovakia down through the thirds. I don’t think many supporters had seen football like that from us in a long time. So it’s small steps but as we said, the main thing is the result, that needs to change and goals need to come so it’s understandable that people will be annoyed but I think we’re going in the right direction.” 

“If you look at the Slovakia game everyone was sort of fit, you had your big players on the pitch and it showed that night. Slovakia were no mugs, they are a good team, they’ve got some top, top players but I felt we were comfortable in that game. It was just about getting the ball over the line, which is annoying.

“There’s still so much more to come and if everyone can stay fit I can’t see why we can’t push on on this trip. But these three games are massive for us.”

Kenny has always spoken highly of Robinson, though if he is to start in Belgrade, he will do so in spite of falling out of favour at West Brom. He hasn’t played for the Baggies in almost two months, with his last appearance coming against Sheffield United on 2 February.  

He insists there has been no falling out with Sam Allardyce, however. 

“No, no falling out there. It’s what football is like, sometimes you’re in and sometimes you’re out. I’ve just to make sure I train has hard as I can, as hard as possible to make sure I’m fit to come on this trip and be there for selection. It’s just how it goes in football, at the moment, I’m obviously not in the team. I don’t want to be not in the team.

“That’s obviously Big Sam’s choice at the moment and I’ve just got to keep grafting away in training.”