DARREN RANDOLPH is backing his Republic of Ireland team-mates to claim another away-day scalp in order to guarantee a place at Euro 2020 when they play in Switzerland tomorrow.

Having kept a clean sheet as Mick McCarthy’s side ground out a bore draw in Georgia at the weekend, the Middlesbrough goalkeeper will be back between the sticks in Geneva tomorrow night.

Ireland need to win one of their remaining two matches against Switzerland and Denmark to secure a spot at next summer’s European Championships, and while their weekend display in Tbilisi hardly augurs well, Randolph claims they always raise their game against more talented opposition.

The shot-stopper made his competitive international debut off the substitutes’ bench in a 1-0 win over Germany, and excelled in Wales during the last qualifying campaign when another 1-0 win earned the Republic of Ireland a play-off spot.

Switzerland’s qualifying hopes suffered a major dent when they suffered a 1-0 defeat in Denmark on Saturday, and Randolph is hoping to inflict more damage tomorrow.

“There have been big nights away from home and there’s no reason why this can't be another one,” said the Boro keeper, who is regularly touted as the best number one in the Football League. “We’ve done it numerous times in the past. We need to beat one of the two other teams and we'll be going for it (against Switzerland).

“Switzerland are a very good team - big, quick, agile, athletic, technically sound. It's the reason they always qualify for every tournament they’re involved in.

“They’re going to be another tough one. but there have been big nights before where we’ve gone away and got results.

“We knew before that we’d need four points from the last three games. The way the group is, it was always going to come down to beating Switzerland or Denmark.”

With Randolph as the last line of defence, Ireland have conceded just two goals from their six qualifiers, an excellent record that has proved sufficient to keep them in the top two.

However, they will have to be more adventurous in attack in order to gain the victory they need to qualify, meaning McCarthy and his number two, Boro assistant Robbie Keane, will have to strike the right balance between retaining their side’s defensive resilience and opening up in attack.

“We've had chances in every game we've played, but we know we can be a bit more creative,” said Randolph. “That will come the more work we do.

“It's different at club level when you work with each other day in, day out. Here, you're straight into the games but it's something for us to build on.

“We're solid enough defensively. One thing we always do is work hard and we'll continue to do that and look to see what we can change.”


* Middlesbrough defender Nathan Wood was in international action earlier today, playing the full 90 minutes as England Under-18s claimed a 1-0 win over Slovakia.