Seamus Coleman insists that praise and criticism wash over him in equal measure.
When Martin O’Neill was Ireland boss he regularly hailed the Irish captain as ‘world class’.
Yesterday, Everton ace Coleman was eager to play that down and suggested it was an over the top assessment.
But asked if it boosted his confidence, Coleman said: “I take good comments, bad comments the same way - it doesn’t have any influence on what I do on a match day.
“You can say I’m brilliant or you can say I’m crap, it doesn’t really bother me; I go out there to do a job.
“I've been crap sometimes this season and I’ve been good sometimes this season, but it doesn’t affect my mindset during a game.”
Meanwhile, Coleman believes Ireland can stymie Christian Eriksen by getting in his face tonight.
The pair have clashed numerous times in the Premier League and Coleman said: “He’s a top player and give him any room around the box and he’s very dangerous.
“But we’ll know what we’re doing and you have to keep these lads quiet.
“World class players could be quiet for 89 minutes but they could come up with something, so we need to be fully prepared.”
Eriksen confirmed this week that he wants to leave Tottenham and is eyeing a move to Real Madrid.
And Coleman has no doubt the Danish ace could hold his own at one of the European heavyweights.
“You want the best players to remain in the Premier League, but he’s than capable of playing for the top European teams and he doesn't need me to be telling him that.”
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