FOOTBALL: Healy expects Polish backlash
DAVID Healy believes Poland will be gunning for revenge when Northern Ireland reconvene their World Cup qualifying campaign in the Autumn.
Nigel Worthington's men travel to Chorzow on September 5 looking to keep their Group Three ambitions intact.
The Irish enjoyed a 3-2 victory over the Poles in Belfast back in March to forge their way to the top of the qualifying table.
Slovakia – who Northern Ireland play four days after their trip to Poland – have since reclaimed the top spot as the race to South Africa 2010 intensifies.
Record goal scorer Healy is already preparing for a big pre-season with Sunderland, especially with September's qualifiers in mind.
And after hearing of Poland's sudden switch in venue for their crunch World Cup showdown – the game was originally scheduled to take place in Szczecin – the talismanic striker is expecting a hostile welcome.
"The Polish FA has changed the venue to a bigger stadium and I think that tells you something about how they are treating this qualifier," he said.
"If we were out of contention I think they would have stuck us in a smaller stadium with a lesser atmosphere.
"But now we're in the thick of things in the group, and after what happened in Belfast, they will want to play us in a bigger stadium and in a partisan atmosphere. They need to win and I think that is reflected in moving us to a bigger stadium.
"I'm sure Poland were hurting after their defeat in Belfast and we fully expect a backlash. I have no doubt they will be out for revenge. Hopefully it passes safely off the pitch, and we can do the business on it. That would be the perfect equation.
"If we can take something from the game over in Poland, that would set us up nicely for the home game against Slovakia a few days later."
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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