PARIS: Ireland coach Martin O'Neill says his squad are fit and raring to go ahead of their opening Euro 2016 clash with Sweden at the Stade de France on Monday.
Speaking at a news conference in St Denis, the 64-year-old announced he had no injury worries and that the players were ready for their Group E matches against the Swedes, Belgium and Italy.
"(Strikers) Robbie Keane and Jon Walters were carrying injuries when I was picking the 23 but they're fine now," he said on Sunday. "I'll take that extra time to think about things when it comes to picking the 11 but I do have a team in mind.
"We're raring to go. It's been a long wait since November and the playoff when we qualified," added O'Neill. "We celebrated then but now we're impatient to get going and do something here." O'Neill said the side he selects against the Swedes may not be the same one that will face Belgium and Italy.
"I think we have a squad capable of coping with three games in 10 days," he explained. "It will be a bit like going back to club football where the games come thick and fast and maybe you have to pick a team with an eye on another match."
Captain Keane dismissed suggestions that a win in the Stade de France would help banish memories of the Thierry Henry handball there in 2009 that cost Ireland a place at the 2010 World Cup.
"I'm not one to dwell on the past.
As a footballer you have to put defeats out of your mind quickly and that one was almost seven years ago," he said.
In 2012, Ireland were the first team mathematically knocked out of the Euros after being beaten by Croatia and eventual finalists Italy and Spain.
"We're here now with a different bunch of lads," said the 35-year-old Keane who is likely to start on the bench against Sweden.
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