Jonathan Walters is prepared to put his body on the line to ensure that Ireland overcome Estonia in the Euro 2012 play-offs.
Although no slouch in front of goal, the Stoke striker is the rugged and uncompromising type and is the sort of “awkward bugger” that Stan Staunton had in mind when speaking of the great Caleb Folan a few years back.
“He’s one of them who accidentally bumps into you and stands on your toes and doesn’t know he’s doing it,” said Stan and Walters, a man who once took a picture of his vomit to convince Roy Keane he was sick, certainly falls into that category.
It is those sort of attributes that, in the absence of Kevin Doyle, is likely to see Walters given the nod ahead of Simon Cox when the Ireland team in named later on today and if is indeed given the start, Walters won’t be shirking any physical responsibilities.
“I am not the sort of player to shirk out of anything, I’ll go wholeheartedly into anything so if that’s putting myself about or doing whatever needs to be done, I’ll do that,” said Walters.
“I have the scars on my head and eyebrows to prove that. I’ll get involved and get mixed up in whatever needs to be done.”
Walters did enough in a brief cameo against Armenia to suggest that he is worth a spot in the Irish team tomorrow night and although it was on his own on that occasion after Kevin Doyle was sent off, he doesn’t mind who he partners in attack.
“I’ve played with so many different strikers over the past few years, five or six in the past year while I’ve been at Stoke,” Walters added.
“I think that adaptability is one of the attributes of my game and playing well with different players and linking up,” he said.
“Whatever the manager asks you to do or how to play, you try and if it’s a different job I am asked to do – whether it’s to hold it up or flick it on and behind, I’ll try my best to do that.”
Given Ireland’s style of play, it is likely that Walters will have to do his fair share of winning headers, winning flick-ons and bumping into Estonian defenders, yet despite the gulf between the sides in the rankings, Walters paid Ireland’s opponents the obligatory compliment ahead of tomorrow night’s tussle in Tallinn.
“They’ve done exactly the same as we’ve done to get where they are,” he said.
“They’re not going to be pushovers and they’re not going to be easy. We may not have heard of them so much in world football but you tend to find players from countries like that are technically very good.
“As soon as you underestimate teams you get a kick up the backside. So that’s the last thing anyone in the squad will be doing. It’s the worst thing you can do.”
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