Gus Poyet has slammed accusations made by Keith Andrews about alleged insider knowledge, branding it cheap and a mistake.
The build-up to tomorrow’s visit of the Greeks, likely a shootout to avoid finishing fourth in the Euro qualification group, has been overshadowed by a war of words over the first meeting in Athens.
Stephen Kenny’s assistant Andrews claimed on Tuesday that Poyet had availed of his Irish links to gain knowledge ahead of the 2-1 win.
The Greece manager admitted his former Brighton and Hove Albion player Gary Dicker attended their training in the lead-up to that fixture. The Dubliner remains part of the Premier League’s staff, assistant manager of the club’s U21 team.
Speaking at Aviva Stadium ahead of Friday’s game, Poyet reacted to the charge levelled by Andrews.
“It was sad and very disappointing. I don't know Keith. From the outside seeing him talking on television and the way he played football, I felt he was an intelligent man and he made a mistake, a big mistake, because he was lying.
"First, I don't invite people to watch my training. Secondly, nobody told me how the Republic of Ireland plays. Third, if you look how your country played before they played us: France at home, 5-4-1. Three days before that, when they played Latvia, it was 5-3-2. How did they play against us? 5-3-2 in the first half, 5-4-1 in the second.
"Do you really think I need information? Let's say he is young, made a mistake, made excuses but I was disappointed, very disappointed."
Asked directly about Gary Dicker, he said: "Gary is one of the most intelligent players I had in my time at Brighton. He is proper Irish - proper.
“And I promise you, this is one thing that is important, we talked more about good Brighton play
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