The midfielder feels that, for all its faults, the old stadium intimidated the opposition, writes Emmet Malone

Having run up more international appearances at the place than anybody else in recent years, and almost taken the roof off with his goal against the Czech Republic last month, Kevin Kilbane will be more sorry than most to bid farewell to Lansdowne Road tomorrow night.

Though he accepts the need to rebuild the stadium and expresses the hope that Ireland can revive their qualification campaign at Croke Park next year, the 29-year-old remains convinced that, for all its faults, the crumbling stadium was a special place to call home.

"The Holland game (which Ireland won 1-0 to qualify for the 2002 World Cup) is probably the best memory I have or the last one against the Czechs because I scored," he says, "but I'm sure every player that has played there loves the atmosphere when it's jumping and there's a good crowd there," he says.

"It can be a fantastic night. When I have played against club team-mates down the years they have always mentioned the stadium and it's never exactly been complimentary.

"Teams didn't enjoy coming here," he continues. "Sometimes the pitch wasn't in the best condition so teams didn't like playing here and it probably all worked to our advantage."

The grubby surroundings should be the least of San Marino's problems tomorrow night and Kilbane acknowledges there will be pressure on the Irish side to produce not just a victory but a few goals too.

"If you win the game but don't do it by a massive scoreline you will probably still get slated but we have to concentrate on winning the game first and foremost. We can't go in thinking how much are we going to win by and things like that because banana skins are always there."

Assuming they do take the three points and then add another three in the return game next February, the team will take on Wales in the first game at Croke Park with renewed hope that something might be salvageable from the campaign.

"It's going to be different there," he says. "I know that the football pitch is a lot smaller than the Gaelic so we will probably feel a bit isolated in the middle. I'm really not sure how well it will work but I am sure it will be a great atmosphere for the Wales game. And we have to believe that we can qualify.

"When the Germans, the Welsh and Slovaks come to Dublin we have got to be winning those games. It was a long time ago but with the start that we have had we have got to try to re-create the atmosphere of the Holland game for those matches."

If he and his team-mates can do it then it will, he admits, represent a considerable turnaround given how gloomy the mood was within the camp in the wake of the defeat in Nicosia.

"The mood after the Cyprus game was probably as low as I have known it," he says. "But, after the Czech game, I am sure that everyone would have gone back to their clubs in better spirits. "

They are optimistic now too, he says, and well aware that their most immediate task is to ensure that nothing dents that newly restored confidence between now and the spring when the more serious tests start to come around again.