Soccer: Russia boss Dick Advocaat will not take a depleted Republic of Ireland lightly as he attempt to kill off their Euro 2012 hopes.

Advocaat’s men will welcome the Republic to the Luzhniki Stadium tomorrow having established a two-point lead at the top of Group B as a result of their 1-0 home win over Macedonia on Friday night.

Ireland could only draw 0-0 with Slovakia at the Aviva Stadium on the same evening, and defeat in Moscow would surely leave them scrambling to claim a ticket for yet another play-off lottery.

The Russians will be without injured goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and suspended midfielder Igor Denisov, but the Republic will have to do without Sean St Ledger, who is also banned, and the injured Kevin Kilbane, John O’Shea and Shane Long. However, Advocaat has seen enough of Giovanni Trapattoni’s team to know that may not necessarily make a great deal of difference.

“We know the way they play, and it doesn’t matter who is playing," he said. “They can bring an Under-21 team, but the commitment is 100 per cent and they are always difficult to play against. They work and they try because that’s the temperament of the guys from Ireland, so you can’t underestimate them at all.

“We need to play our own system — that works and hopefully it can again. It will be a crucial match for both of us, very important. Hopefully we can continue like we have been doing results-wise. But we also know in principle Ireland have to win to stay in the group, so it will be a very interesting game.”

Trapattoni, unlike his opposite number, named his team today, and there were no surprises in it as Darren O’Dea replaced St Ledger in central defence and Stephen Kelly was asked to take over from O’Shea at right-back. However, Advocaat, whose side won 3-2 in Dublin in October, is expecting little to change as he explained earlier comments suggesting tackling Ireland would be more straightforward in some senses than the Macedonia game.

He said: “It’s not easier in terms of playing, but it’s easier in the way that we know the opponent, so we can’t be surprised.

“Ireland is a very difficult team. It doesn’t matter who they play or whether it’s in Ireland or Hong Kong or whatever, they play the same system. But they are a difficult team, definitely.”

If Ireland’s players are well known to Advocaat, then some of his star men need no introduction to the men in green with the likes of Andrey Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Yury Zhirkov household names because of their time in the Barclays Premier League.

Arshavin’s Arsenal, of course, have endured a traumatic start to the new season and are still recovering from their 8-2 drubbing at Manchester United. However, the Russia boss is confident that has done no lasting damage to his captain.

Advocaat said: “You didn’t see him last week on Friday? He did really well. The last time he played [for Arsenal] in the 8-2, I thought he was one of the few players who played his normal game. On Friday, he was certainly a threat to Macedonia.”

Advocaat was also asked about comments from Pavlyuchenko before the Macedonia game in which he was critical of the system adopted by his manager.

The Dutchman said: “Players who are not playing are not happy with the coach. That’s how it is. That was 100 years ago. That’s not a problem for the players. We [coaches] have to think not only of ourselves, but also of the team.

“The team’s performance is most important, not individuals, and that goes for everybody, not just Roman.”