Norwich City midfielder Wes Hoolahan insists the Republic of Ireland should not fear Belgium after his goalscoring exploits in their Euro 2016 Group E opener earned a point against Sweden at the Stade de France on Monday.

Man-of-the-match Hoolahan swept home a sweet half-volley to put the Irish on course for a win, in a game that also featured his compatriot Robbie Brady and Sweden's Martin Olsson, but Ciaran Clark's own goal earned the Swedes a point.

Italy later beat Belgium 2-0 in Lyon to top the group ahead of the next round of fixtures which will pitch the Republic against the highly-fancied Belgians. 'I'm pleased with the performance, we played really well - created a lot of chances in the first half and went ahead in the second half,' said Hoolahan. 'They got the equaliser, which was a bit disappointing but overall we are proud of our performance.

'It was a good performance and we look forward to playing Belgium on Saturday.

'Seamus (Coleman) did brilliantly to beat his man and it was great to score. We started on the front foot and pressured them a lot of times during the game, then fatigue probably set in a little bit. Overall the performance that we delivered was very good.'