Roy Keane will be looking forward rather than to the past when the Republic of Ireland and England meet in Dublin for the first time in 20 years on Sunday.
The game will be the first between the two nations in the city since rioting travelling fans caused the abandonment of a friendly at Lansdowne Road in February 1995.
However, while the fixture is important for what it represents off the pitch, it is even more so in assistant manager Keane's eyes because of what it means in terms of preparation for next Saturday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.
He said: "It's just a good game for us to look forward to. If you are a footballing person, it's a good game for the players, the preparation obviously for the Scotland game, England obviously have a lot of good players, so have we.
"I wouldn't be one for looking too far back. Again, it's all about looking forward to the games coming up. The priority is trying to get the team right, get a good edge to us for Sunday.
"I'm pretty sure it will be a decent atmosphere in preparation for what is our priority, trying to get a result against Scotland. But you can tell everyone is looking forward to it, all the players. We can't wait.
"But in terms of what happened 20 years ago, you have just got to try to look forward, look forward to the game coming up. England, we obviously want to turn them over."
That infamous night came during a period when Jack Charlton's Ireland had more than matched their near neighbours for some time, famously beating them 1-0 in Stuttgart at the Euro 88 finals, courtesy of Ray Houghton's header.
Despite the fact that the sides have met just once during the ensuing two decades - a 1-1 friendly draw at Wembley two summers ago - the rivalry remains as intense as ever for the Irish.
Keane said: "I missed the game that was mentioned (in 1995), but I played against England at Under-21 level and yes, there will be an edge.
"You'd have to ask the players, but if you're asking me what the players' mindset is, yes, they will want to play against England and they will want to beat them, they will want to do well.
"There will be lads who know each other at club level, and England have got some very good players, so I don't think we could have picked a better game the week before we play Scotland. I think it's the ideal preparation.
"There will be a good edge to it, no doubt there will be a good tempo and hopefully a good pace to it, and it will be a big, big test for our players."
Source: PA
