Republic of Ireland striker Callum Robinson says he would be surprised if England’s Jack Grealish is not met with a frosty reception from the Aviva Stadium crowd during Saturday’s Nations League match.
Birmingham-born Grealish represented the Republic of Ireland at under-age level, qualifying through his grandparents, before switching in September 2015.
Manchester City‘s Grealish starred in England’s friendly win over the Republic of Ireland in 2020 but has not faced the ‘Boys in Green’ in Dublin since changing allegiance.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, an unused substitute in that 2020 friendly, is also preparing for a reunion with the Republic of Ireland after earning three friendly caps in 2018, before deciding to represent England.
Robinson, who is close friends with Grealish, says the 28-year-old will be “expecting” some “abuse” from the Irish fans on Saturday.
“I’d be surprised if he doesn’t because I think he gets booed anywhere he goes anyway – even in England,” said the 29-year-old Robinson, who represented England at under-age level before switching to the Republic of Ireland in 2018.
“I think he’ll be getting ready for a bit of abuse but that’s part of it, it’s part of the game. He’s old enough and with being a senior player now, that stuff’s going to come.
“As I said, he gets it in English games [in the Premier League], I don’t think there will be any change on Saturday, I think he will be getting it.”
Like his former Aston Villa team-mate Grealish, Robinson is preparing for a return to the international stage after some time away.
But while Grealish is in interim England boss Lee Carsley’s first squad after being left out of Euro 2024 by Gareth Southgate, Robinson is keen to make up for lost time with fitness issues having kept him out of the picture since November.
The Cardiff City frontman has nine goals in 37 caps and is excited to get going under new boss Heimir Hallgrimsson after the frustration of missing out on the four friendlies during John O’Shea’s interim spell in charge.
“In the summer, I grafted and worked really hard, looked after my body, worked on my body and had this in my mind to get back into the squad here and with Cardiff,” said Robinson, who scored his first Championship goal of the season against Swansea on 25 August.
“I’m really happy at the moment with how it’s all going and I’ve worked hard to get myself back into the squad.”
Robinson also revealed former Iceland boss Hallgrimsson outlined his desire to make the Republic of Ireland “harder to beat” during his first couple of training sessions with the squad.
“As I said earlier, we’ll try to be solid and hard to beat and sometimes it means going a bit deeper and being more solid defensively.
“But I still think we’ve got the ability, but when you’re playing England and the top nations, we don’t want to be naive and we want to go with a solid base.”