I’m not going to make any bones about it, when we go to play against San Marino next Wednesday in our latest World Cup qualifier, only one result will be acceptable for us and that’s a victory.

All of you will have heard the old cliché about there being no easy games in international football, and generally that is true, but the bottom line is if we don’t beat San Marino it will be a disaster for us. I can’t put it in stronger terms than that.

A few years ago the Republic of Ireland really struggled to beat San Marino and needed an injury time goal to get the victory, but I would like to think that it won’t be as edgy as that for us.

Of course we can’t afford to take San Marino for granted and we won’t but if we are to have any realistic ambitions of challenging for a place in the 2010 World Cup finals, we have to put this sort of opposition away.

We must be positive from the outset and take the initiative and from there our extra quality should see us collect maximum points.

In many ways we should treat it just like we did in October when we hosted San Marino and comfortably defeated them 4-0.

That night I didn’t see anything to worry about from San Marino, and I’m not going to write that I did just to ease any pressure on us. We should be able to live with that.

We did it in our last away game against so called minnows when we went to Liechtenstein in the European Championship qualifiers and won 4-1.

I scored a hat-trick on that occasion and I’d love the opportunity to do the same again, but if someone else steps up to smash home a few goals, I’ll be more than happy.

That night in Liechtenstein our fans turned the ground into a mini Windsor and provided outstanding support for us. I imagine it will be a similar scenario in San Marino and hopefully the same result.

This match will be our first in 2009 and it is the ideal opportunity for us to set the tone for the rest of the year.

It will also be the first match since Nigel Worthington and I had our say on my future at Sunderland.

It’s well documented that we had differing opinions on that and at the time I was pretty forceful in my views.

I don’t regret it but it’s a few months on, we’ve both said our piece and as far as I’m concerned it’s been put to bed.

We had a brief chat recently and what is important now is getting a result for Northern Ireland.

I’m looking forward to joining up with the squad and doing my very best for my country and I won’t have any problems with Nigel whatsoever. We’re all in this together, the manager, players, the fans, everybody.

We need to be, that’s how we made the impossible possible by beating the likes of England and Spain and that’s what is required for us to have any chance of making it to South Africa next year.

Should we beat San Marino, as I expect us to, we’ll move up to seven points from five qualifiers and while we would prefer to have a few more, it would put us in the picture in the group with the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

And it will keep the dream alive. Only a win will do. As I said earlier, anything else would be a disaster.

Keith will be back BEING good friends with Keith Gillespie (above), I know he was extremely disappointed to have been left out of the Northern Ireland squad for our game with San Marino.

Already there has been speculation about Keith’s international future and whether or not he may have played his last match for his country.

I hope that does not prove to be the case and to be honest I doubt it will be.

When Keith turns out for Northern Ireland it means the world to him and his family and he’ll be keen to add to his 86 caps.

He would love to become our most capped outfield player, a record currently held by Mal Donaghy who won 91 caps, so don’t expect him to give up on international football.

To me Keith has been one of our best players for many years.

And certainly a fit and firing Keith Gillespie makes us a far better team.

While Keith is out, another of my pals, Damien Johnson, is back in the squad.

It’ll be fantastic to see Jonty in a Northern Ireland shirt again after all his injury problems.

He has a terrific work-rate, is good on the ball and will add bite to the side.

He’s also got crucial experience from playing in the Premiership with Blackburn and Birmingham and will be a big asset for us in the match with San Marino.

Keane move is ideal for Spurs

When Robbie Keane joined Liverpool in the summer, he described it as a dream move. Unfortunately it doesn't always work out that way.

Now, after six months of hell at Anfield, he is back with Tottenham.

I know he was desperate to be a success at Liverpool, who he supported when he was growing up, but it just didn’t happen.

He didn’t seem to settle quickly and he wasn’t helped by being substituted in virtually every game he played. His time at Liverpool surprised me because in my opinion he had all the qualities to be a big hit at the club.

Returning to White Hart Lane, though, I believe is great for Robbie and great for Spurs.

I’m sure he’ll play a lot more, his confidence will be restored and he’ll soon be banging goals in again.

Liverpool had an excellent win over Chelsea last weekend, but the way Manchester United are playing I reckon they will win the title at a canter. They seem to be in cruise control, and could go through the gears at any time.

United go to West Ham on Sunday which traditionally has been a tricky fixture for him. It won’t be easy this time either because Gianfranco Zola is now getting the best out of his players, but they won't be strong enough for Fergie's men.

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Rory McIlroy is one special talent. I was so pleased to see him win the Dubai Desert Classic last weekend. That bunker shot he hit at the last to set up the winning putt was sheer class.

I was with the Sunderland squad for our game with Newcastle when Rory was holing that putt.

I was so keen to see his final round that I recorded it on Sky Plus. When I got home I was actually hoping to watch it without knowing the outcome, but when I saw pictures on TV of Rory with the massive trophy, it gave the game away. Even so it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of watching him do the business.

It’s amazing to think he is still only a teenager.

There is so much more to come from him. I’m looking forward to seeing Rory go head-to-head with Tiger Woods in the future.