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Liam Scales has urged the Republic of Ireland to believe they can succeed where England failed as they prepare for Sunday’s Nations League showdown with Greece.
Scales and his team-mates headed for Athens on a high after Thursday night’s dramatic 2-1 win in Finland, the first of their League B2 campaign at the third attempt and a maiden victory for new head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.
However, they will have little time to reflect on their success in Helsinki as they face a Greek side fresh from a famous 2-1 win over England at Wembley.
Looking ahead to the game at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Celtic defender Scales said: “Obviously it’s a tough fixture, we have struggled against them in the past.
“But we are going in on a high now and we need to make this a mentality, a winning mentality, that we can go away to tough places and take wins. That’s how you are going to qualify for tournaments, so that’s the way we need to look at this game.
“We have played them enough to know what they are like and it’s just about going out there and being solid and hopefully winning the game.”
Greece, who have taken a maximum nine points from their first three games in the group, got the better of Ireland home and away during the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, winning 2-1 in Athens and 2-0 in Dublin, and they repeated the latter feat at the Aviva Stadium last month.
However, Scales is hoping the character Ireland showed in bouncing back from an early setback in Helsinki is a sign that Hallgrimsson’s plan is starting to pay dividends.
The 26-year-old said: “We knew we had to show character. We knew the game was there to win, or at least get a point, but we obviously wanted to win.
“We want to make that a common occurrence, winning big games, winning games away from home, winning at home as well, obviously. Hopefully we can take that mentality into the next few games.”
Scales was an unused substitute for last month’s home defeats by England and Greece but a man who is playing Champions League football for his club this season was thrust into the starting line-up at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium and played a significant role in a concerted fightback.
It was he who cancelled out Joel Pohjanpalo’s opener, gifted to him by an error from skipper Nathan Collins, with a 57th-minute header from Robbie Brady’s free-kick to set the stage for Brady to win it two minutes from time.
Scales, who has two Celtic goals to his name so far this season, one of them in Europe, said: “I’ve got a few this season and I didn’t get many in the couple of seasons before, so it’s a good thing to add to my game. Hopefully I can kick on now and get a few more.”
