World Cup qualifying: Robbie Keane admits the Republic of Ireland have never had a Plan B

Robbie Keane has admitted the Republic of Ireland have never had a Plan B throughout his entire international career.

The 33-year-old striker is in line to win his 129th cap in Austria on Tuesday evening with Ireland's hopes of World Cup qualification having taken a severe hit with Friday's 2-1 home defeat by Sweden.
Giovanni Trapattoni's seemingly inflexible tactics have provoked increasing criticism, but Keane insists the national team have always had just one way of playing.
He said: "We talk about Plan A and Plan B and stuff like that, but Ireland has never had a Plan B before. We have always had Plan A, it's as simple as that.
"Since I have been in the squad, we have played the exact same way. We don't have the personnel to, like Spain, get the ball down and have 80 per cent possession against teams. We are just not that team.

"We talk about Plan A and Plan B and stuff like that, but Ireland has never had a Plan B before. We have always had Plan A, it's as simple as that."

Robbie Keane

"But we know strengths and we stick to them. Unless it changes, maybe from grass-roots - but it's not going to change for, certainly, a good few years.