With the core of Ireland’s defensive line backing him up, the job being done by Keith Andrews at Brentford has been hugely impressive in the opening weeks of the Premier League season.
The appointment of the former Ireland midfielder as Thomas Frank’s successor was seen by many as a bold move over the summer.
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Combined with the departures of central figures Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and Cristian Norgaard, the appointment of a man who had not managed any senior team previously had many tipping Brentford for relegation.
11 games in, they have a near-identical record to this time last year, and Andrews has pulled off big results against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle United.
Captain Nathan Collins and goalkeeper CaoimhÃn Kelleher have been pivotal for Andrews, and Ireland will hope they can recreate their club form when they take to the field in a green jersey this week against Portugal and Hungary.
Collins spoke to the Irish media on Monday, and hailed his club manager for his impact at the club – with the Kildare man also admitting he hoped he and Kelleher could channel their impressive club performances for Ireland.
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Nathan Collins hails Keith Andrews’ impact at Brentford
10 November 2025; Nathan Collins during a Republic of Ireland press conference at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
“I’ve known Keith since I was 15,” Ireland captain Nathan Collins said of his Brentford manager Keith Andrews on Monday.
I’ve had him as a coach for a long time, I knew what he was about, I knew what he was like when he was here, I knew him last year when he was set-piece coach, I had no doubt he’d step into the role and do what he does best, and he’s fit in seamlessly really.
And obviously losing big games, it’s normal in football nowadays. The work the club done in the background is unbelievable, and that’s from the backroom staff, credit to them, we’ve come back into pre-season and it just felt like nothing really changed for us, we had our goals, we had what we wanted to achieve and for us coming back into pre-season, it just felt like another season.
Keith is obviously a new manager so he’s learning as he goes along, as a squad we’re learning how he manages, his coaches, how they are, it’s still a learning curve and we’re 11 games in. I don’t think that’s a lot personally.
We’re not even at Christmas yet so I think we’ve got a lot of growing as a group, still getting to understand each other and there are going to be different situations that appear in the season that we’re going to have to get around.
It’s all the work the staff put in the summer to make it so easy on the players. It’s a credit to the club and the staff.
Collins and clubmate CaoimhÃn Kelleher were central figures for Ireland during Andrews’ time as an assistant coach under Stephen Kenny.
Both men have been impressive for Brentford in the opening weeks of the Premier League season, and Collins hopes they can recreate that connection for Ireland in this week’s decisive qualifying double-header.
“It’s always nicer winning football matches,” Collins said on bringing his club form to international level.
“It changes your whole week, it changes your whole mindset on everything really. And the fact me and Caoimh can create a relationship at both club level and country, I think it’s very positive.
“He’s in great form, he’s an unbelievable top keeper, so to have him behind you is always confidence and allows me to do what I need to do. It should hopefully bring more confidence in with us when we go to games like Thursday because we have played together so much.”
If Ireland are to secure an elusive World Cup playoff spot, they will likely need a big result against Portugal on Thursday night.
The spectre of Cristiano Ronaldo looms large over this fixture, but Ireland kept him frustrated in Lisbon last month, even if Ruben Neves broke Irish hearts in injury time.
Ronaldo celebrated that goal with gusto – in Jake O’Brien’s face, not Collins’, he adds – but the Brentford man says the Irish defensive troop will have learned plenty from their effort away from home in October.
“We learnt how tough it’s going to be again,” Collins said of what Ireland will take from the return fixture.
They’re one of the best teams in the world with some of the best players in the world. It’s probably more the mental than physical challenge of staying concentrated.
There’s a lot of talk that we have to defend, defend, defend but we’ll attack as well. They’ll have to defend against us so it works both ways, especially at home with our fans behind us.
The 24-year-old admits that Ireland will take energy from any big defensive moments on Thursday.
“In a game like that where it’s hard to gain momentum, when it’s hard to get that bit of edge, you need to find something that you can gain confidence from,” Collins said.
“Maybe that’s a big block, a save from CaoimhÃn, you gain motivation from that, gain confidence from that, you feel better about yourself, you feel better about your team, it is maybe something mental that can change you a little bit, but it is nice to have them moments.”
Ireland face Portugal in their penultimate World Cup qualifier on Thursday evening in the Aviva Stadium. Kick-off is at 7:45pm, with the game live on RTÉ 2 – all tickets are sold out.
Eoin Harrington reporting from Ireland camp at FAI HQ
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