Hugo Lloris has warned France the Republic of Ireland will be more intent on making their name at Euro 2016 by dumping the hosts out of the competition than exorcising the ghost of Thierry Henry.

The two sides meet in the last 16 in Lyon on Sunday almost seven years after Henry's handball at the Stade de France broke Irish hearts and denied them a place at the 2010 World Cup finals.

Both camps have sought to play down talk of revenge despite intense media coverage - the 2009 World Cup play-off second leg was shown in its entirety on French television on Friday night - and France skipper Lloris, who played in the game, insisted Ireland would have bigger fish to fry.

He said: "I don't know if the Irish are necessarily out for revenge. That's part of history, that's in the past.

"Tomorrow's fixture is part of the European Championships at home and we have noticed since the start of the tournament, we are a little bit the team to beat. That does give the opposition added motivation to try and bring down the host nation.

"That is no doubt going to be another aim for the Irish, but we're not focussed on that at all, we're preparing very calmly on our side of things and tomorrow we need to make sure that we are ready for the battle."

A controversial 1-1 draw in St Denis that night secured France's passage after a 1-0 win in Dublin in the first leg, but the Republic were the better side on the night.

However, Lloris denied there was over-confidence in 2009 and insisted there would be none on Sunday either as the possibility of a quarter-final clash with either England or Iceland looms.

He said: "If I'm honest, I don't think we are over-confident at all. We have a lot of respect for the Republic of Ireland. We have been able to watch them on video. Despite the second half against Belgium, they have shown a lot of good stuff against Sweden and especially against Italy.

"They are perhaps even a little bit more excited because they went through in the last few minutes against Italy. They are where they are. I think they are very motivated, but we will also be up for it too."

Whatever the result, it is likely to be a landmark day for Lloris, who will captain his country for a record 55th time, in the process overtaking the total managed by his manager Didier Deschamps.

Lloris said: "Of course it's nice, but to be honest at this moment in time, I'm more focussed on competition as a whole and what matters for me and my team-mates is to try to go as far as possible in the European Championships."

Martin O'Neill has urged the Republic of Ireland to go out with all guns blazing if they cannot extend their Euro 2016 adventure by dumping hosts France out of the competition.

Ireland produced their best performance for years on Wednesday night to beat Italy 1-0 and secure their passage to the last 16, but manager O'Neill knows they will have to be equally good, if not better, to upset one of the favourites to lift the trophy on July 10.

O'Neill said: "I have spent my time in the last two-odd years here in qualification sending out what I would consider adventurous teams to win games.

"We played a very adventurous game against Sweden, we weren't allowed to play well against Belgium and that can happen because they are a top-class side.

"They are rated one or two in the world at the moment, so that might tell you something about them and they are entitled to be able to pass it past us occasionally.

"In the game against Italy, we knew needed some extra energy in the team. We have some older players playing, certainly in their 30s, so we had to get that energy into the side, which we did - and not only did we have that energy, we played brilliantly in the match, so we have those things to look forward to.

"But I don't think you would want to head out of the competition meekly, that's the most important thing. You want to go out blazing if you can and we want to try to stay in it because we feel we can do something."

O'Neill revealed full-back Stephen Ward, who took a kick to the ankle against Italy, is improving but remains a doubt. Striker Jonathan Walters' Achilles problem is improving by the day.