Keane says the Republic are confident of winning on Wednesday

Robbie Keane wants to erase memories of one of his worst days in football when he leads his country into World Cup battle with Cyprus on Wednesday.

The Republic of Ireland skipper was in the side which lost 5-2 in Nicosia two years ago as their Euro 2008 qualifying hopes went up in smoke.

Keane and his colleagues then could only draw 1-1 in the return in Dublin.

"The performances against Cyprus in the last two games simply weren't good enough," said the Liverpool striker.

"We accept that as players, and as players, you want to go out and rectify the situation, and we believe we can do that against Cyprus.

"The 5-2 was probably one of my worst moments in an Ireland shirt, and I am sure it was a lot of other players' worst moment in Ireland shirts.

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"But the good things about football is you always get another chance to play against a team you didn't do well against."

The game in Cyprus in October 2006 was a particularly sobering experience for Ireland, who took an early lead through Stephen Ireland but were eventually engulfed.

For Keane, that black night was a further illustration of the changing order in world football, and looking back to it simply serves as a timely reminder that every Group Eight point will have to be fought for tooth and nail.

"We know they are a good team from previous experience and we know it is going to be a tough game," added Keane.

"But we have to be confident playing at home. With the players we have, we should be confident of going into the game and getting three points."