Defender Eric Abidal has urged France not to fall for the Republic of Ireland's "provocation" on Saturday.

The two sides meet in Dublin in the first leg of their World Cup play-off, with the tie concluding next Wednesday in Paris and a place in South Africa at stake.

A fervent and hostile atmosphere is likely to await Raymond Domenech's side at Croke Park and Abidal acknowledges they must keep their wits about them.

The Barcelona defender is tipped to edge out Julien Escude and Sebastien Squillaci in the battle to partner Arsenal's William Gallas at centre-half.

And he told L'Equipe: "There will be a little malice and provocation. We must see what happens and not get caught up in it.

"They will look for the slightest mistake and try to draw fouls, it's part of football. It is a strategy.

"We must not give them free-kicks on the edge of the box or corners - that way they will have less chances to score from set-pieces.

"Football is a sport which takes control and enormous concentration - you must not respond to provocation or do anything which would handicap the team."

The 30-year-old has more reason than most of his team-mates to be wary, as a yellow card in Ireland would see him suspended for the return leg.

But he said: "I do not think about it - you must do everything you can to avoid mistakes and adapt to every situation."

His thoughts were echoed by defensive colleague Bacary Sagna, who looks set to get the nod over Rod Fanni at right-back for the key clash.

The Arsenal full-back told fff.fr: "We will go to Dublin to impose ourselves and to win. We cannot begin to plan for defeat or a draw. In this type of match, it is dangerous to calculate.

"We want to impose ourselves over there and after that will be the time to think about the second leg in front of our fans.

"I am only thinking of qualification and of nothing else for the time being."

Striker Andre-Pierre Gignac has labelled the match the biggest of his career and is desperate to be involved.

The Toulouse frontman scored four goals in only six appearances in Les Bleus' group seven qualifying campaign but faces a battle for a place up front.

Captain Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema are also in the running, and Gignac - who bagged a brace in the 5-0 rout of the Faroe Islands and also scored in a dead rubber against Austria - has set his sights on now featuring in the big games.

He told France Football: "It's the biggest moment of my career.

"I am very happy when I am called up. Now I want the chance to prove myself in big games.

"Without denigrating the Faroe Islands and Austria, we had control over these meetings. I want to go to the coalface, I want to confront the great nations.

"We don't know what the future holds. I could lose form, could get injured, so I do not make predictions.

"If we qualify - and we are going to - I will have to battle all season to hold on to a place in the squad. It is an opportunity which might only occur once in my career.

"In Guingamp, ahead of the match against the Faroe Islands, I saw an exhibition on the France team of 1998. I was very impressed and want to live through the same emotions with my team-mates."