Proud Martin O’Neill wants more of the same

Martin O’Neill had one simple message for his team after their second-half fightback against Poland had salvaged what could yet turn out to be a vital point on the rocky qualification road to France 2016.

“I said this to the players at the end of the game: Replicate that there and we have got a really fighting chance,” said the manager.

“Of course, I’d rather get the first goal in the game (because) we’ve been chasing some of the matches. But, overall, I think that the draw with Poland sets it up now for Scotland. Essentially it’s probably a must-win game now, a big match for us.

“But we’re still in the competition. It would have been a real blow to lose on Sunday night, particularly after the second-half performance. But we got something out of it with a bit of character. We had spirit in abundance but I thought we showed some ability as well and I cannot wait now until June.”

O’Neill underlined the importance of the Scotland game by insisting he won’t allow even the box-office friendly against England which precedes it to become a distraction from the main event. Rather, he sees ‘the old enemy’s’ first visit here since 1995 as strictly a means to an end.

“I agree that England is a big, big match but I don’t think we should overlook the fact that, for me, it’s a build-up to the Scotland game,” he said. “You know my view, at the end of the day if you want us to win a load of friendly games I’ll play the 700th-rated team in Europe every single week and build it up. It’s a big match but it’s not for me. The Scotland game is the be-all and end-all.”

That said, O’Neill expects the England friendly on Sunday June 7 to be an “intense” affair, something which, he hopes, could work to his advantage in the run-up to the Scotland game the following Saturday, by giving some fresh and realistic game time to those Irish players in the Championship who will have finished their club seasons as early as May 2.

There might also, he hinted, be a closed-doors game for the squad as part of their preparations for the qualifier in Dublin on June 13.

Meanwhile, O’Neill was happy to take the positives from Sunday night and reflect further on the input of certain players, including James McCarthy and Robbie Brady.

“Sometimes you are looking for a bit more from (James),” he said. “I thought he was tentative in the first-half, he has given it away a few times when he should deal with the ball a wee bit better. I mentioned it to him at half time and I thought he came on strongly in the second half. I thought he dominated proceedings in there and kept us on the front foot.

“Robbie Brady’s delivery is usually better. He overhit a couple of balls and then the mix up for the goal didn’t help. But he’s a little character and he took it on board and fought back strongly in the second-half. And I think with James (McClean) coming on, it helped him greatly, the two of them seem to be interacting a bit. I’m very pleased for him because he’s a lovely footballer.”

Asked if Brady had done enough to retain the left-full slot, O’Neill replied: “Well for a start Stephen (Ward) hasn’t played much football at all. He’s come here with a purpose of wanting to be with the squad which I appreciate greatly. But I think during the course of the week that Robbie was always going to be playing there, whether we played three at the back (or four). I think he has played all three positions for Hull so he is comfortable enough at left-back, he can play left-wing and funny enough he can play in a little bit as well.

“I wasn’t too concerned. The main thing for us was if we have the two holding midfield players to stay there and not go too far — still try and dominate the game but not go too far — then I’ve enough attacking players to maybe create something. And if it’s not working we’ll have to try and change it. But I thought the players came up to the plate in the second half.”

All that said, the manager allowed that he would dearly love his team to stop making life difficult for themselves by conceding poor goals and having to bail themselves out late on.

“That would be very nice, honestly, genuinely, I would love to score the first goal in the game, it would be great,” he smiled. “The goal we gave away on Sunday was catastrophic. A mistake like that is catastrophic. We conceded a goal against Scotland from a set-piece and this here was entirely of our own doing. We have given it away and next thing it’s in the net. It does deflate you because, just when you think you’re getting into it, then this hits you.

“But I thought the players rose to it in the second-half and I was really proud of them.”