Republic of Ireland defender Nathan Collins says the build-up to this week’s Nations League games has felt “better” after the players had a “tough chat” following last month’s defeat by Greece.
After starting new boss Heimir Hallgrimsson’s reign with home reverses to England and Greece, the Republic of Ireland take on Finland in Helsinki on Thursday before a trip to Athens on Sunday.
The 2-0 loss to Greece on 10 September marked an 11th defeat in 13 competitive games for the Republic of Ireland, but Collins refused to attribute the team’s dismal run to a lack of confidence.
“I don’t think it is a lack of confidence. It is fairly frustrating, it is annoying, we are eager to make it right,” said the Brentford defender, who is deputising for injured skipper Seamus Coleman this week.
“There is a lot of frustration within the lads as we know as a group we are a good team, we have good players. We see the level of individuals at club level and lots of players are flying at the minute.
“The frustration is we can’t get that result. This week has felt better as a group. Talking to the lads, the information we are taking in, how we’ve been training, everything does feel better. We are looking forward to the game.”
A sequence of just six wins in their past 31 competitive games has seen the Republic of Ireland slip to 62nd in the world rankings.
Stretching back to the beginning of the Euro 2024 qualifiers in March 2023, their only competitive wins have been home and away to Gibraltar and they have struggled for goals of late with just two in their past six matches, both against Hungary.
“We’re all Irish, we’re all footballers, we all want to win every game with Ireland,” added Collins.
“We’ve always said it’s a dream to play for Ireland. Well, it’s a dream to qualify for tournaments, it’s a dream to push this team to the next level.”
In addition to Coleman, Hallgrimsson is without injured midfielder Will Smallbone for this week’s games while Wolves defender Matt Doherty and Cardiff forward Callum Robinson were among those overlooked for selection.
The Republic of Ireland are hoping to win their first away Nations League match at the ninth attempt. They last faced Finland in this competition in 2020 during the early days of Stephen Kenny’s reign, losing both games 1-0.
Finland, ranked two places below the Irish in 64th, also lost their opening two Nations League B2 games to Greece and England last month.
