14 football fans were arrested after a brawl ahead of the clash between Republic of Ireland and Croatia, The Daily Mail reports.

The incident happened at around 1am on Sunday morning in Poznan, which included glass bottles and chairs being thrown - 10 Poles, three Irish and one Croat fan were arrested and detained.

The unsavoury incident follows in the footsteps of ugly confrontations between Russian fans and stewards on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Giovanni Trapattoni remained upbeat after his Republic of Ireland side were beaten 3-1 by Croatia on Sunday, stating that his men can still qualify for the knockout rounds.

"We have to believe. Every game in this Euro could be a surprise. We have to believe this," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

"Spain is another game. We have to think very much. I must take all the players in confidence - if I decide to make changes now, it will not be because of playing bad or not deserving to play.

"The second goal was very important. I said to the referee watching the television it was two metres offside.

"It was not like our other performances, in many games we have played better, we didn't concede goals, tonight we conceded three goals," he concluded.

Ireland take on world champions Spain next on Thursday.

By Gareth McKnight

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