Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane has claimed that the current squad possesses more talent than it realises.

The new management team of Keane and Martin O'Neill took their first training sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of Friday's friendly against Latvia in Dublin.

Keane believes that progress can be made with Ireland as soon as the players start believing in themselves.

"We have got some really good players and sometimes the players themselves are the last to realise how good they are," he told reporters.

"You have to speak to people with respect and hopefully the players from the last few days will appreciate that."

Keane won 67 caps as a player for Ireland before announcing his international retirement in 2005.

Written by
Jack Prescott