Tom Mohan wants his Under-19 European Championship stars to "do it" for banned pair Lee O'Connor and Jonathan Afolabi when Ireland take on Portugal today for a place in the final.
Controversial yellow cards late in the game against the Czech Republic cost the pair their place in this afternoon's semi-final.
Portugal are tournament favourites as they look to defend the title they won last year.
Mohan said: "It is a tremendous achievement by the players to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA European Championships and they deserve a huge amount of credit in being one of the final four teams.
"However, we are not content with that as there is a place in the final up for grabs and we will do everything that we can to take that.
"We have an extra incentive when it comes to motivation to reach the final as the players, and staff, want to do it for both Lee O'Connor and Jonathan Afolabi, who are both suspended for our semi-final with Portugal.
"It is really disappointing for the two lads, who have been outstanding in every game for us, so we want to collectively do what we can so that Lee & Jonny get to play in the final.
"We are fully aware of the threat that Portugal pose. They won the tournament last year and we've seen their Elite Round qualifiers and their games in Armenia.
"There is no question that they are one of the strongest teams in this year's tournament and we will have to produce another massive performance to match them.
"But this group of players are not fazed by anyone and we have a lot of strengths too.
"A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes, in terms of recovery and preparation, so we feel that we are ready for this game. The players have already done magnificently to reach this stage, but we want to go one better and get to the final now."
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