Upbeat Martin O’Neill looks to the future

It was a little like the first day at new school yesterday for the Ireland players, as they made their debut at the National Training Centre by FAI headquarters in Abbotstown.

With John Delaney looking on like a doting parent and watched also by association staff and the media, the players were put through their paces for the first time on the immaculate Pitch 1 — and, with that, another small but significant piece of Irish football history was made.

That much construction work is still ongoing at the National Sports Campus should be of little concern to the players since they are bussed directly from their new hotel base in Castleknock straight through to pitchside and back again.