We’ve more than fighting spirit, says proud Martin O’Neill

Martin O’Neill was too deflated to use such a flippant phrase but the one all his thoughts seemed to be tending towards after last night’s 1-1 draw in the Stade de France was “nice performance, shame about the result”.

“There is disappointment in the dressing room but I don’t think the players should be downhearted,” said the manager. “They should be absolutely thrilled at what they achieved in terms of the way they played. The disappointment is that we should be speaking now with three points on the board instead of one. And that would have given us a really great chance.

“But I think we’ve got more than fighting spirit in the side. We’ve got players who can play a bit, players who are improving at international level. Spurred on by a magical crowd, I thought there were some great performances there.”