Burnley star always plays with the same intent: to elicit a response

Josh Cullen is confident that Ireland’s players will be motivated when they take on Gibraltar tonight in a Euro qualifying dead rubber in a mostly empty stadium.

The Estadio Algarve, one of the stadiums used when Portugal held Euro 2004, is likely to draw barely over 3,000 spectators, including the traveling Irish supporters, as opposed to the 41,000 who witnessed Ireland lose to Greece so easily last Friday.

Today’s match will be played in Faro due to construction on Gibraltar’s home stadium, which served as the site of Ireland’s previous away match against them in 2019. Despite this, Cullen is adamant that the lack of an enthusiastic crowd won’t be a problem.

The Burnley player stated, “Of course, there will be some differences in the stadium crowd, but I think as players and professionals, it’s up to us to approach the game exactly the same way we would any other game.”

We don’t need to rely on a crowd to create an atmosphere; instead, we must do so ourselves in order to ensure that we enter the game on the offensive and, of course, to do everything in our power to earn three points.

In order to ensure that we have that level of energy about our performance, it is up to us as players to create that mood in the locker room prior to the game and make sure we do everything we can on the field at the start of the game and right through it. Yes, I believe that will significantly contribute to our success.

Cullen admitted it has been a very frustrating let-down despite being a fixture in the Ireland team this season and playing every minute of every game.

The midfielder continued, “Obviously, the campaign hasn’t gone the way we as players expected it to, but the motivation is the same in every game.

“The opportunity to represent your country on the field is something that should never be taken for granted; whether it’s against Gibraltar or France, you approach it with the same mindset. We are eager to return to the field and get a victory for our nation.

“Throughout the campaign, you notice little margins in many different games. We delivered some strong performances. We either haven’t been good enough or things haven’t gone our way when it comes to the game’s final aspects. We naturally desired to give up the automatic qualification more gracefully.

It will be the task of Gibraltar’s coach Julio Cesar Ribas to inflict more pain on the Irish team and the travelling support in Faro.