Irish midfielder Glenn Whelan wants to give the travelling Green Army some bang for their buck in Copenhagen tonight as the Republic of Ireland face Denmark in their third qualifier of the Euro 2020 campaign.
The Clondalkin native was brought back into the Irish fold by new boss Mick McCarthy and feels that he can empathise with supporters who were losing patience with the team under the man who retired him from international football, Martin O'Neill.
"I had twelve months out of the team and then I was a fan," said Whelan. "Obviously when results don't go a certain way, there's a backlash. You only have to look at attendances over the last few games at the Aviva.
"It's understandable, it's not cheap to come and watch the team play but we're wary, or I'm certainly wary, of giving [the supporters] something to cheer about when we are there, maybe a shot on target or even if it's a tackle.
"Anything to get the buzz going."
There was a palpable buzz at the Aviva Stadium in March as McCarthy's men made it back-to-back wins in Group D with a 1-0 win against Georgia.
While the scoreline wasn't anything to get excited about, the manner in which the team played was enough to give Irish football supporters some enthusiasm for going to watch the national side play again.
"Hopefully we've brought that [buzz] back a little bit from our performance and result against Georgia but we're only one game away from things sliding.
"Listen, it's a little bit of confidence, a little boost that we have and [we'll] use that to our advantage hopefully."
Glenn Whelan will be on Eriksen-watch
Denmark may not be world-beaters and lack a real threat in the forward department but it's in the engine room where Ireland need to be careful.
Borussia Dortmund's Thomas Delaney and Lasse Schone will have to be shackled while their main dangerman Christian Eriksen may find himself getting up close and personal with Whelan at the Parken Stadium.
"When I spoke to the manager about his reasons to bring me back was maybe in games like this where the number ten or their attacking player that you need to be a little bit more wary of," Whelan added.
"The position that I've been playing, defensive midfielder, I'd like to think that I can make an impact. Whatever team goes out on Friday, we'll be more than capable [of dealing with], not just Eriksen but their other attacking options.
"They've got a lot of players who play for a lot of big teams so we need to be wary of them but on the other hand, hopefully like what we've done in the last two games, worry about ourselves a little bit more and what we're good at and what we can do."
