Another international qualifying campaign is upon us and Ireland have got the opportunity to get to another major tournament.

The opportunity to play for your country at a World Cup or Euros is incredible – as a kid it’s all you want to do. Having been fortunate enough to do so, I know how amazing it can be for yourself, the nation and the fans.

Ireland travel everywhere in big numbers. The Irish fans bring a great atmosphere and they’re always well behaved. They always getting recognised as being the best fans in the world – it’s hard to think of any better.

As players, it’s special to be involved in these big tournaments, but playing for them makes it even better.

Ireland against the big hitters

Ireland have got a tough draw this year with the Netherlands and France in the group, but when I was playing we always had a history of playing two big nations in qualifying.

We got drawn against Portugal and the Netherlands in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup and nobody gave us a chance.

You always look to see who you’re playing and it’s only natural to notice the big names first. At that time, both of them had so many as well.

Luis Figo and Rui Costa spring to mind for Portugal. For the Netherlands, we were up against Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and the list goes on. You name a world class European footballer and they were probably there.

The qualifying campaign itself was obviously great for us. To qualify out of that group was fantastic because the expectation from everybody was that we would lose.

But we knew as a group that we’d always have a chance against anyone. Playing at the old Lansdowne Road, we never feared anyone regardless of their quality.

The atmosphere when we beat the Netherlands 1-0, I still think to this day, is probably one of the best I’ve ever been involved in. It was a sell-out at Lansdowne Road, it was incredible.

What a great goal from Jason McAteer. I think at one stage they had five strikers on the pitch, and not just ordinary strikers but big names. It was an unbelievable achievement from us to win that.

We've been crying out for someone like Evan Ferguson

The emergence of Evan Ferguson has been great to watch. It’s a big thing for Ireland to have someone who is playing on a regular basis for a top-10 Premier League club. I’ve always said that we need to have our best players playing in the best leagues if we want to achieve something and Evan is doing that at a wonderful club like Brighton.

He’s got huge potential and a real chance of fulfilling that because he seems to be so level-headed and has clearly been managed well. We’ve seen that he can score goals too, and as a nation we’ve been crying out for someone who can do that on a regular basis.,

Hopefully he can be the man to take that responsibility for Ireland going forward, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on him.  He’s a young kid and I know what it’s like to have pressure at that stage of your career. I was lucky enough to overcome it and score many goals. Evan’s his own person and his own player, and I think he’s got something special.

Back on domestic duty

Looking ahead to the return of the Premier League, I think Arsenal have done so well this year. That’s not just in terms of where they are in the league but how they are playing their football. They are dominating teams, scoring a lot of goals and have surprised a lot of people with their longevity. Mikel Arteta has done an incredible job.

I did originally say Manchester City to win the title, though, and I am going to stick with that. But the next three or four games are massive, and as the wins keep getting ticked off by Arsenal, it is going to get more difficult to catch them.

I still think Tottenham have a chance in the race for fourth as well. They had a bad result just before the international break, being two goals ahead against Southampton and slipping up. That should have been three points. But I still think they can get there. Yes, they are inconsistent but the teams below them are also inconsistent.

Looking at the bottom of the table, any team from 12th down could go down. There are so many teams in it, it’s almost impossible to pick three. It’s probably the hardest ever relegation fight to call.

Of course, Leeds are in trouble but they look to be improving. I’d like them to stay up, they’re one of my former clubs. They’re a great club, have a great history and the Premier League is better with them in it.

Their win against Wolves, another of my former clubs, looks to have really helped them out. Wolves aren’t out of it either. But I do think they have a stronger squad than the other teams down there.

I think that Wolves will ultimately be safe.

Premier League in Europe

Out of both Premier League teams left in the Champions League, I think Manchester City are the ones with a realistic chance of winning it. It’s the one trophy they haven’t won yet, and it’s all they have been talking about.

It’s the one that’s missing, but I really do think with the squad that they have and the way they play, they can win it.

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