Keith Andrews and Stephen Hunt are both keen on facing England should a friendly with the Republic of Ireland come to pass.
As the midfield duo and their international colleagues prepare for Tuesday evening’s Euro 2012 playoff second leg against Estonia witha 4-0 lead in the bag, they will have seen much paper talk that a first game with the neighbours from across the water for over 16 years has been mooted.
It now looks quite likely that – should Ireland confirm their place in next summer’s finals and then avoid England in the group stage draw next month – that a game between the neighbouring countries will go ahead at the Aviva Stadium some time in the New Year.
Of course the last time the sides met it was infamously abandoned after crowd trouble at Lansdowne Road in 1995, but Andrews believes it would be ‘fantastic’ to renew rivalries with Fabio Capello’s men – who themselves had a fine result this weekend, beating world and European champions Spain 1-0 in Saturday’s Wembley friendly.
"Absolutely, it would be fantastic,” Andrews the man-of-the-match and scorer of the opening goal in Tallinn on Friday evening said. “We haven't played England in such a long time.
"They have well and truly qualified for the Euros and it would be nice to pit ourselves against them.
"They had a fantastic result (against the Spanish). We play against them week in, week out in the Premier League, and to play against them would be something I am sure both sets of fans would love."
Andrews was then asked if he would prefer to meet Capello’s side at the finals in Poland and Ukraine, the Ipswich Town loanee added with a smile: "It would be nice, yes, we would settle for a 1-0 win maybe in the group stages if we got them. But I am sure it would be a fantastic game if that could be sorted."
Hunt would love the first meeting since ’95 to be a competitive one, the Wolverhampton Wanderers livewire saying: “If we play against England, I would rather play against them in the tournament than a friendly because let's be honest about it, friendlies are irrelevant.
"It would be nice to beat them, of course. They are our main rivals and they play against Wales and Scotland all the time.
"It would be nice to play against them of course, but I would prefer it at the tournament.”
Hunt, indeed, is not afraid of facing anyone at the finals should Ireland complete the job on Tuesday. He added: “I go out in every game to play well for my country, but it would be special, if we qualify, to play against Spain in the first game of the tournament -that would be special."