Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny says his team have the chance to lift the hopes of the the nation by winning away in Slovakia this evening.

Victory in the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final in Bratislava, a game you can listen to live on Off The Ball, would move Kenny's side within one win of qualifying for next summer's finals.

“The motivation is very high,” the Ireland boss said after training at the match venue. “The players’ careers are short and opportunities to get to the European Championships and major tournaments are not so frequent.

"So if you can achieve that, particularly when it’s in Ireland, which is unprecedented, would be incredibly special."

Kenny has also pledged that his side will attempt to control the game later, rather than setting up to stifle their opposition.

“We’re happy to get through and win the game but the point is we’re not setting up to contain and hope we score through a setplay or a break.

“We will play our own game. We have good players also and we must not underestimate ourselves. We have to change the mentality of the whole country.

“We’ve never done well away from home against the big countries but we’ve looked on draws as great results, which they’re not unless we qualify.”