THE FRENCH might beg to differ, but Ireland skipper Robbie Keane reckons it is they who are under pressure heading into this evening's World Cup play-off second leg at the Stade de France where the local fans will, the Dubliner maintains, want to see their team put on a show rather than just settle for securing a safe passage to South Africa.

"The pressure is on them, they are playing at home," he says, despite the fact that a stalemate will see Raymond Domenech's men through.

"I'm sure the crowd will expect them to play well and score a couple of goals. We have got nothing to lose and everything to gain so we will have to see how it goes. But definitely, the pressure is on them.

"Of course, it's going to be tight, they won't give us many opportunities and we will have to take them when they come. But hopefully we will get more than the one chance. If we get one goal it puts the pressure right back on them because they'll know that if we get a second we'll be going through. Whether we do it early or late, they would definitely be rattled."

There is certainly, amongst the media pundits here, a fear that Domenech's team might set out to secure a goalless draw this evening and somehow end up plucking defeat from the jaws of victory. Generally, though, the sense is the hard work has been done and it is unlikely that anyone in the home camp would reject a dull night in St Denis were it offered to them prior to kick-off.

Keane, on the other hand, firmly rejected the notion last night that the tie being decided by penalties would be a decent outcome for the Irish in the wake of Saturday's loss at Croke Park.

"I think we can turn it around," he said emphatically. "We have to believe we can turn it around. Belief is a massive word but everyone in the squad believes we can win it. No-one is thinking about going to penalties. Hopefully we can do it in the 90 minutes.

"This campaign has given us a lot of confidence," he continued. "The manager has instilled that into us. Our performances have been good away from home and we can take that into tomorrow night's game. It has been a decent campaign but if we don't produce tomorrow we won't be going to the World Cup."

The Tottenham striker was gently pressed on Ireland's status as outsiders and the absence of an historical precedent for a team winning through from the position they are in but simply shrugged both off.

"It's not something that we'll think about as a team," he said. "We have a job to do as a team and we know if we don't do that job then we won't be going to the World Cup. But I really believe with the players we have in the squad, there's a twist left in this game."

The French will have other ideas and Keane admitted the performance of one of them, Hugo Lloris, had been a contributory factor to Saturday's defeat.

"Yeah, their goalkeeper was very quick to come out (when Keane went close in the first half) and he did well on a few other occasions. If it had been a couple of yards further back it might have been easier but it was only two yards away and then Liam (Lawrence) was unlucky too with the follow-up.

"But we did create chances on Saturday and a lot of half-chances in the last few games. We need to create more clear-cut ones this time, we know we have to score goals but we believe we can do it."

"It is by no means over," he insisted again. "Over the years it has maybe suited us better to be written off. When we have come up against the bigger nations, the better teams, we have tended to do well but we have struggled when we are the favourites.

"As a team we know what we have to do and we don't want to go home with any regrets."