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Ireland wary of Italy despite changes

2016-06-22 08:07:00 from:SNTV

The Republic of Ireland complete their Group E fixture list on Wednesday as they take on Italy in Lille.

Italy have already sealed top spot in the group and head coach Antonio Conte is preparing wholesale changes for a game that Ireland must win to in order to maintain hopes of progressing alive.

Despite the revolutionised Italian outfit, Martin O'Neil believes his side are in for a tough contest.

SOUNDBITE: (England) Martin O'Neill, Republic of Ireland coach (on Italy coach Antonio Conte rotating his team):

"Italy, regardless of the changes in the team, will be very dangerous because they're Italy. And the players that are coming in, into the squad.... come from Roma, AC Milan, big places. So these players are top quality players and we have to be ready for that. And we think that we are."

As O'Neil's team prepare for the match, memories of their famous win over the Azzurri at the 1994 World Cup will be in the minds of the supporters.

That victory saw Ireland progress to the second round and Seamus Coleman is hoping they can secure another famous win to keep dreams alive.

SOUNDBITE: (England) Seamus Coleman, Republic of Ireland defender (on Ireland's fans):

"We want to give them something to celebrate. It's all well and good that we got here and we enjoyed getting here and we enjoyed qualifying, but now that we are here we want to get out of the group and as I said, that starts tomorrow and now we have to finish the job."

This is only the third time Ireland have competed in the finals of a European Championship.

They failed to progress beyond the group stages in their previous campaigns in 1988 and 2012.

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