Euro 2012: Giovanni Trapattoni rejects talk of overtraining his Republic of Ireland players ahead of Croatia opener The players played against Bosnia [ten days ago] and then only had the rest in Montecatini. Or maybe they went out! But the players are not tired. It is difficult psychologically, though, when you are so close to a tournament. With forward Jon Walters admitting that the "long build-up" to the Croatia game is beginning to affect the players, gripes about training demands, combined with boredom, is not an unusual pre-tournament development. Concerns over the fitness of Shay Given have also cast a cloud over the Irish camp, but while the Aston Villa goalkeeper sat out training in Gdynia last night, Trapattoni insisted that he would resume preparations on Wednesday after being rested following his impressive performance against Hungary. Trapattoni's reaction to the stalemate in Budapest was to raise the prospect of changes for the Croatia game, despite naming his side publicly on Sunday evening, but the Italian has now backtracked on that prospect. He remains keen to experiment with a change of formation, however, that could see Robbie Keane playing in a deeper role to crowd out the Croatians in midfield. "I think Robbie can play in the [Francesco] Totti role," Trapattoni said, referring to the Roma and Italy forward. Robbie can play as a number ten, but sometimes I must convince him. If we have another situation like this [inability to retain possession against Hungary], we need another approach. When we have another player in midfield, we can make it more difficult. Trapattoni's demands for more defensive work from his forwards prompted an unusual comparison by the Ireland coach, however. "Sometimes, your best defenders are your forwards," Trapattoni said. If a striker lets his defender go down the pitch and cross for a goal, he has not helped the team. He is like Pontius Pilate. Instead, I want them to run back with the defender and stop him crossing for the goal.