O’Shea: Harsh lesson highlights need to be cuter

John O’Shea wants the Republic of Ireland to show a bit more cynicism in their quest to get back on the increasingly rocky road to Rio.

A naively conceded goal in stoppage time, when Ireland gave away possession from a free-kick at the far corner of the pitch, ultimately cost them two valuable points against Austria at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night.

And taking any positives from the 2-2 draw, when a win was snatched from their grasp so late on, wasn’t easy. But O’Shea, who skippered the side on the night in the absence of the injured Robbie Keane, was philosophical, insisting the younger players in the squad must learn from it.