Greece fans have turned their back on their team and Stephen Kenny says Ireland must capitalise.
A crowd of only 10,000 is expected tonight at the 32,500-capacity OPAP Arena in Athens - and a third of them will be Irish.
At least 2,600 members of the Green Army have descended on the Greek capital and extra tickets are up for grabs.
Last night, Kenny was surprised to hear that so few home supporters plan on attending the Euro qualifier.
But he hopes it plays into Ireland’s hands as the Boys in Green chase a much needed win to keep qualifying hopes alive.
“The Irish crowd travel brilliantly,” said Kenny.
“Because of Covid they couldn’t really come to Portugal. Azerbaijan is difficult to get to and we had a small crowd because of Covid as well.
“Last year we had a big crowd in Scotland. It’s terrific that they can give the commitment to come to Athens.
“They are very passionate about their country and there is a good affinity with this group of players.
“The players deserve it because they’re also very passionate about their country.”
Kenny knows Ireland will have to deliver points on the road if they are to push for automatic qualification in a tough group that also includes France and Holland.
But he feels his players will have learned valuable lessons from the agonising defeats in Portugal and Scotland in particular, where they blew leads.
Kenny continued: “You can’t look back but the obvious one is the game in Portugal which we lost late (to a Ronaldo brace).
“But we have learned so much about the team over the last year and you can see the team improving - but this is a stern test as Greece are a really good team.”
And Kenny admits the Irish approach will be different tonight than what it was against France in March.
“They are a world class team, a team that has a lot of world stars in it, and it’s not always a deliberate policy to contain.
“This is a different game entirely. It’s an intriguing game really. Is the approach different? Yes it is, so we’ll have to wait and see how that goes.”
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