There'll be no joking around on match day says Robbie Brady

All smiles before the game, but once that whistle blows it's all business for Robbie Brady

The former record signing, usurped as the club’s biggest buy by striker Chris Wood, is one of five Republic of Ireland internationals at Turf Moor alongside Stephen Ward, Jeff Hendrick, Jonathan Walters and Kevin Long.

The Boys In Green are hot on the heels of Wales in Group D of the qualifiers with a place in the finals in Russia at stake.

Head coach Martin O’Neill and his squad host Moldova at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin at 7-45 p.m. in the penultimate fixture of the campaign while the Welsh travel to Georgia.

They’ll then face a potential showdown with Vokes and company in Cardiff on Monday with just one point currently separating the two rivals.

With the Irish sitting in third spot, chasing a play-off spot, Brady said: “We’ve got to do our part and win both games and we’ll see what happens in other games.

“We’ll concentrate on our part and that’s getting the two wins.

“It will be a massive game, and hopefully we can get the result we need to.

“We’ve had a bit of banter (with Sam), but when it comes down to it we both know what we need to do, it’s going to be a tough game for both parties but we’ll be ready to go and hopefully we can get the result we need.

“It’s one of those games where there will be pressure on it either way, so it will be whoever deals with it better and gets the result that’s needed.

“Everyone dreams of playing in the World Cup and we’ll be doing our utmost to get there.

“It will be a dream to play in a World Cup so it will be a tense game, we’ll both be looking to do our part and then we’ll see what happens in the other groups.”