Martin O’Neill: Georgia result gave players huge lift

It might have taken a while for the goals to come but Martin O’Neill was happy his team’s 4-0 win in Faro, coming hard on the heels of Scotland slipping up in Georgia, capped off a good night for Ireland in European Championship qualifying Group D.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “I said before that any team going to Tbilisi was going to find it difficult. There wasn’t any big cheer in the dressing room when the result came through but I’m sure it gave the players a lift. I don’t think there was ever going to be a lack of focus but it certainly rekindled our focus because, regardless of that result, we had to win here.

“And I was concerned about this game because Gibraltar have improved and I think they showed that before half-time when they might have got an equaliser – Shay made a good save and Cyrus Christie got an important touch to a cross - but we won well in the end.