Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane said on Wednesday that he was "fully focussed" on their 2016 European Championship qualifier against Germany after the birth of his daughter on Monday, while manager Martin O'Neill called on his side to " try and be positive" against the world champions on Thursday.

Script: SOUNDBITE: (English) Robbie Keane, Republic of Ireland captain (on the fans getting anxious with the Scotland match)

"No I don't think so. I think people are there focused on what we are trying to do. We can't dictate what's going to happen in Glasgow, so we just have to focus on us. I'm sure the crowd will be on their phones and what have you, and checking the results. But I think it is certainly important that the players and we have to make sure that we are fully focused on their job at hand. We can't help what happens up there."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Martin O'Neill, Republic of Ireland manager (on Toni Kroos and German midfield)

"Yeah he's a very, very good player. I mean the Germans are very good players, they are not World champions for nothing, really fine players. They're back, I think they felt maybe just after the World Cup that they might a little hangover, but they were always going to top this group, because they are the best side in it."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Martin O'Neill, Republic of Ireland manager

"Naturally it is. Even after the Scotland game in June, it wasn't out of our hands at that stage, we still had to win a number of games. We've won two since that there, two of the most difficult games you can possible imagine, at home to Germany, away to Poland, face us. But I think that we have got to be, and we will be, we will be really positive in the outlook and I think that and I've got a number of players in the side that can cause problems to Germany."