John O’Shea reckons his Sunderland team gave it “a good shot” in the Capital One Cup final but, after finishing up with a loser’s medal on the back of that 3-1 defeat by Manchester City, he can’t disguise his relief at being able to switch focus, not just to tonight’s game against Serbia, but to the European Championship 2016 qualifying campaign.

Martin O’Neill admitted it was ironic that his Republic of Ireland side will have to slug it out with Scotland for Euro 2016 qualification.