Asmir Begovic has highlighted the importance of a clean sheet on Monday night.

As Bosnia & Herzegovina prepare for their all-important Euro2016 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, Chelsea goalkeeper Begovic is determined to be central to a tight defence that keeps the Irish attack quiet.

The teams played out a 1-1 draw in Zenica in the first leg last week and Begovic is now looking ahead to the return bout at the Aviva Stadium which is sure to be played on a gilt edge.

"Honestly, before the first tie it was two evenly-matched teams. I don't think there was one clear favourite," he said.

"As the first game showed, there's not much between the two sides and I expect more of the same tomorrow night.

"Maybe being at home Ireland will expect a little more and we will try to use that to our advantage.

"Of course keeping a clean sheet will be very important. It's important that we play an organised game, try to be as compact as possible and try to also limit our mistakes, that's important.

"But it's obviously about trying to win the game, trying to be positive as well and trying to find the right balance between attacking and defending.

"It's a bit of a tricky result to predict, but we will try to keep a clean sheet and try to keep our team as tight as possible."