Paul Dowling assesses the performances of Ireland's players in the 1-1 draw with Denmark.

Matt Doherty’s late header was not enough to send the Republic of Ireland to the Euro 2020 finals as they came up just short in a tense encounter with old foes Denmark.

Sheffield United moved up to sixth in the Premier League table after a 3-0 victory against Burnley.

Forty-five years after making my Ireland debut, 55 years after watching my country play for the first time, I’m struggling to think of a week when we produced back-to-back performances as poor as these.

Shane Duffy will be on this afternoon’s flight which will take the Irish squad to Tbilisi for Saturday’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Georgia.

Brighton’s Shane Duffy and Sheffield United’s David McGoldrick could yet be fit for Ireland’s game against Switzerland on Tuesday week.

None of Mick McCarthy's four strikers had an international goal to their name when the squad assembled in Dublin, but they headed back to their clubs with both McGoldrick and Collins having opened their respective accounts.

David McGoldrick and Callum Robinson are out of Tuesday night’s friendly with Bulgaria at the Aviva Stadium.

On a night players from both sides found it difficult to find their feet, Mick McCarthy didn’t slip up in keeping Ireland on the road to a third successive Euro finals.

There were times when this would have felt just like old times for Glenn Whelan. And everyone watching.

Despite plenty of endeavour, Ireland’s attack lacked the requisite composure or finishing ability to adequately trouble their opponents for much of the 90 minutes.

It’s an old adage in football: if you can’t win a game, at least do your best not to lose it.

In the run-up to big games, we easily pleased meeja types like nothing better than when rival managers and players have the fabled ‘pop’ at each other.

Of their 19 games since the start of 2018, Switzerland have lost five, tacked on by a penalty shoot-out loss to England in the Nations League finals last time out.

Seamus Coleman has warned the Republic of Ireland not to be taken in by the absence of Switzerland's talisman Xherdan Shaqiri as the sides go head-to-head in the battle for Euro 2020 qualification.

If David McGoldrick ever fancied piggy-backing on The Tall Boy’s literary success, he could do worse than title his own memoir, I Was Peter Crouch’s Boot Boy.

Eoin Lowry was Laois' late goal scoring hero as John Sugure's side edged a tight encounter against Derry to ensure they are in the hat for Monday's All Ireland Qualifying Series third round draw.

A bore fest rather than a score fest, Ireland once again made heavy weather of seeing off Gibraltar.

Ireland’s striker quartet remain without a goal after David McGoldrick saw his effort against Gibraltar chalked off an own-goal.

As expected, Ireland have overcome Gibraltar thanks to an own goal and a late Robert Brady strike. Ger McCarthy runs the rule over the lessons learned.

It was just of 5pm local time, four hours before kick-off, when an open-topped party bus stopped in traffic outside the Ireland team’s hotel in the centre of Copenhagen.

Taking a look at what to expect from tomorrow's Euro qualifier against Denmark.

If there can be such a thing as an upside for Mick McCarthy in seeing four players succumb to friendly fire on the training pitch — Shane Long having now followed Alan Browne, Mark Travers and Luca Connell out of the squad since preparations for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Denmark and Gibraltar began on the Algarve — it’s that none would have been likely to start in Copenhagen on Friday night.

Last year's All-Ireland finalists Tyrone came through a draining battle when they just couldn't shake off a game Derry challenge in the Ulster Championship preliminary round in Omagh.

John Egan, Enda Stevens, David McGoldrick, and possibly Scott Hogan will be plying their trade in the Premier League next season after Sheffield United secured promotion to the Premier League this weekend.

John Egan, Enda Stevens, David McGoldrick, and possibly Scott Hogan will be plying their trade in the Premier League next season after Sheffield United secured promotion to the Premier League this weekend.

Second-half goals from Mark Duffy and Enda Stevens saw Sheffield United beat 10-man Nottingham Forest 2-0 to give their hopes of finishing in the top two a much-needed boost.

Goal number 13 for the season was far from unlucky for David McGoldrick as his first-half effort gave Sheffield United a 1-0 win at Preston on Saturday, a result that lifted the Blades back into the automatic promotion places in the Championship, after Leeds United lost 1-0 away to Birmingham City.

The whoops and hollers were still going strong inside the St Michael’s dressing room after they had beaten Omagh CBS in the MacRory Cup final on March 18, when captain Brandon Horan was asked to speak to some reporters outside.

Ireland might be top of Group D but Mick McCarthy is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

It’s a real game of two halves for Irish football just now.

A funny thing happened on the way to the top of Group D last Tuesday night. The Republic of Ireland forced Georgia to change formation during the first half of their second successive 1-0 win on the path towards Euro 2020.

Mick McCarthy had talked before this one about how his ambition was to win with style, and his team certainly delivered on both counts to the delight of the Aviva last night.

The lessons learned from Rep of Ireland v Georgia.

A wonderful free kick by Corkman Conor Hourihane set the Republic Of Ireland on their way to victory over Georgia at the Aviva Stadium tonight in this Euro 2020 qualifying clash.

Unlike the ultra-defensive Gibraltar, Mick McCarthy can expect Georgia to adopt a more orthodox 4-1-4-1 formation that held Switzerland scoreless for close to an hour last Saturday.

A win, any kind of win, was the minimum requirement considering all the negativity that surrounded the final months of Martin O’Neill’s tenure.

This was a story of gale force rather than gael force, as a struggling Ireland scrambled to a 1-0 victory against lowly Gibraltar.

The right side of defence isn’t the most alluring of sectors on a teamsheet but all eyes will gravitate there when the first starting XI of Mick McCarthy’s second stint in charge of the Republic of Ireland is released today.

Also included is Aston Villa's Glenn Whelan, who was expected to have played his last game for Ireland after captaining the side in a 36-minute ceremonial cameo against Northern Ireland in November.

There’s no Ireland striker in better form than David McGoldrick at the moment and the 31-year-old illustrated that reality again this weekend, opening the scoring as Sheffield United maintained their promotion push courtesy of a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

How the Irish fared

In contrast to soundbites of rebuilding and transition by his predecessor Martin O’Neill, injected into the mission statement from Mick McCarthy is a reality check in pragmatism.

With the Nations League double-header against Denmark and Wales looming, Callum Robinson fired a reminder of his talents to Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill when scoring twice as Preston moved off the foot of the Championship table after a 4-0 win over Wigan.