MURAT YAKIN is hoping he can continue to have the upper hand over John O’Shea.
Yakin helped Switzerland to two wins and a draw from three matches with Ireland between 2002 and 2004 when O’Shea’s international career was beginning to flourish.
Now the two former centre-halves will lock horns again with both sides in need of a win.
Switzerland have had four draws and a defeat since beating Andorra six months ago.
Ireland won just one – a 4-0 victory over Gibraltar – of Stephen Kenny’s last six games in charge.
And Yakin said: “I remember playing against John, he was a good left-sided player, but those games were a long time ago.
“That is an old story and I am looking to the future not my past because that is my job.
“This should be a nice game, every national team game we are happy to play. This is a friendly, it should stay friendly, but we are going for a win.
“The last win for us was in September. That’s a long time. I expect us to play strong and with commitment and, in the end, we have to score to get the victory. Let’s see what happens.”
Asked what he made of Ireland’s 0-0 draw with Belgium, Yakin – whose side were also involved in a scoreless encounter, against Denmark, at the weekend – said: “It’s a new game against another team.
“The Belgian line-up was not what you would expect but Ireland defended very well, and played with a good counter-attack and they can also play football.
“We want to play. Being dominant is our style, it’s how we’ve played in the past, but we must be careful about the counter-attacks, because that’s a strength of this Ireland team.”
Switzerland – who have qualified for Euro 2024 – are without their first-choice keeper Yann Sommer who has returned to Inter Milan with a sprained ankle.
Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji and Augsburg striker Ruben Vargas both sat out their training session in the Aviva Stadium on Monday evening with knocks but Yakin hopes both will be available for selection.