David Forde

DAVID FORDE says he has no interest in a summer siesta after getting his lucky break with Ireland.

The Millwall keeper’s club season finishes this Saturday with a result he hopes will keep the Lions in the Championship.

After a season during which Millwall reached the FA Cup semi-final and the 33-year-old emerged as Ireland’s undisputed No 1, Forde can be forgiven for wanting to let his hair down next week.

But there will be no blowout for the Galwegian.

Instead, Forde will take a short break, but all with a focus on staying in shape for Ireland’s summer programme.

Giovanni Trapattoni’s side will face England, Georgia and Spain in friendlies as well as playing a World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands.

And when the international games end on June 11, he will have just two weeks left of holiday time before pre-season at Millwall starts again.

But Forde has no problems with effectively cancelling his summer holidays in 2013 if it means keeping his place in the Ireland side.

And he ruled out looking to be excused from the friendly with Spain in New York in the middle of June.

Forde said: “I have waited long enough to get into the side, to go picking and choosing games...I would like to play in every game.

“Football is phenomenal how it pans out. One minute I am sweating saying ‘Jesus will I make it to the Euros?’ Then all of a sudden I’m starting and being No 1 the last few games.

“The old guard, some of the legends have gone. It’s different for them as they have their caps under the belt and it was more about bringing players into the squad.

“Whereas now there are younger lads coming into the squad and myself with not a lot of caps, we want to get more and play.”

The summer programme is an unusual one for Ireland as Forde admits that the most important game — the World Cup qualifier against the Faroes — is in danger of being overlooked because of the glamour clashes with England and Spain.

He added: “Everyone as a young kid dreams of playing England, especially at Wembley because it’s a special place.

“That will be a massive game but the more important is the World Cup qualifier — that is the main game and it’s all geared up to getting fit and ready and being prepared for that one.

“You could look at it like that and it is a potential banana skin. We know what is at stake and the consequences.

“We all want to get to a World Cup and are champing at the bit at home to get a good result. That would give us 11 points and put us in a good position going into the remaining games.”

The two draws in March with Sweden and Austria put a dampener on Ireland’s hopes — Ireland are outsiders to finish second in the group and even doing that might not be enough to secure a play-off place.

With just eight play-off places available to the nine runners-ups of European groups, the worst group runner-up is eliminated and, as things stand, Ireland would struggle to be among the eight.

So Swede ... David Forde enjoys Ireland's draw against Sweden

But Forde is bullish about Ireland’s chances insisting he is not planning any holidays in 2014 either as he targets Brazil and the World Cup.

He added: “I’m actually very confident. I think we will qualify. I just think on past performances and you look at the players who have come into the side, they improve your confidence.

“Séamus Coleman has been a revelation and James McCarthy. We look focused and hungry.

“I think we will qualify. If someone said you would still be in with a shout with a lot of games to go we’d take that. We are level on points with the two others.

“We could have gone into those games and we could have been talking about the European Championships in two years’ time.

“You don’t underestimate draws, especially in today’s game. Being unbeaten breeds confidence. Going forward it will galvanise us and make us stronger.”

Before the international games, Forde has to keep Millwall in the Championship on Saturday when they visit Derby County.

A few weeks ago, they were still targeting promotion but a hectic schedule following the FA Cup semi-final with Wigan cost them.

That Wembley appearance also earned the Lions some bad headlines because of crowd trouble, though Forde reckons that the yobs were not real Millwall fans.

He revealed: “I was oblivious until afterwards when talking to the media. What about the violence? They said it kicked off between a group of fans. I was oblivious to it.

“We get an average of 10-14,000 at games and all of a sudden it’s 30,000. Who is to say it was Millwall, they could have been groups of fans who bought tickets and might not have been real Millwall.”

The real fans will be looking nervously towards League One this Saturday with plenty of permutations about how Millwalll could go down, but the simplest way to stay up is to draw or win in Derby.

Forde added: “Only three or four weeks ago we had games in hand and had we won those we would only be a few points off the playoffs.

“We’ve had 11 games in 30 days since the semi-final so it seems to have taken its toll. There are a few permutations there. We need a minimum of a draw on Saturday.”

The arrival of Seán St Ledger on loan from Leicester City has helped and Forde has been hugely impressed with the Ireland defender in his new central midfield role.

He said: “He has been immense. The manager has played him in a different role for him, sitting in front of the back four in a holding midfield role.

“He has excelled at it and done fantastic. He has been solid and given us a base and a foundation.

“He is that type of player,comfortable on the ball and he can pass it and has heading ability and reading of the game in that role.