Martin O’Neill: We’re not out by a long shot

Apparently irked by a comment made by Gordon Strachan, Martin O’Neill is at pains to remind the Scotland manager — and everyone else — that Ireland deserve their additional shot at qualification for France 2016 through the play-offs.

Arguing that the euphoria of last Thursday’s victory over Germany should not give way to dismay following Sunday night’s 2-1 defeat in Warsaw, O’Neill said: “I said to the players in the dressing room after the game that I would have taken this (play-off) situation throughout the group. When we saw the group in the first place, I may well have taken it before we even kicked a ball in Georgia in the very first game. What I did say that has come to fruition is that teams would take points off each other.

“I heard Gordon (Strachan) saying that they’re out, and us and Poland hadn’t beaten them. But we’ve taken four points off the world champions. Scotland didn’t do that. So I think we should put it into perspective. It was a difficult game on Sunday. I thought we could do it. I thought this was an opportunity. It’s gone. I’m disappointed but, regardless of who we play, we’re still here and we’re still fighting for it.”

O’Neill maintains that trying to replicate Thursday’s performance in the away game to Poland just 72 hours later was always going to be a big ask.

“It was a great win for us on Thursday night and I don’t think that can be taken away from the players. I always felt that trying to replicate that intensity would be difficult. It wasn’t intentional — the players were ready for the game. What we tried to do was put a couple of players in who were fresher and rearing to go and (hoped) that might carry us all along.

“We got back into the game very quickly with a penalty after they scored and there was a period in the second half where I thought Poland got very nervous about it, as they were entitled to do, because they were only leading by one goal. An equaliser would have taken us to France. Had we scored, it would have been a different story. We might not have played as well as we did against Germany but I think the players can be forgiven for that.”

Asked if he felt this Irish team has made real progress under his watch, the manager reflected: “If you beat the world champions, I think you have to feel you’ve made some progress, considering the last time they had played at the Aviva the Germans won 6-1.

“Progress is trying to qualify. Progress is about players’ improvement. Maybe not on Sunday evening, but I think it’s a fair assumption to say that Jeff Hendrick has improved as a player. It was tough for him in Warsaw. But general improvement? I think you’d have to ask players that question, really, players who’ve been involved in other squads. My own view is if I needed some proof positive, I think the German game would stand out.”

O’Neill made no bones about how disappointed he is to be without Jon Walters for the first leg of the play-off.

“That is a real blow,” he said. “John O’Shea too as well. John was on a yellow card beforehand so I thought maybe that could have been avoided. I thought initially when I saw (the incident) with Jon, I thought he could have stepped out of it but, having seen the replay, I think he was harshly done by. I think Lewandowski played for the foul and carried on rolling.”

O’Neill said it’s too early to know if Shay Given, who went off against Germany with a twisted knee, could be back in contention for next month’s games.

“Obviously he’ll find out from Stoke,” he said. “He had a scan with us and they took some fluid off the knee and I don’t think it’s as bad as we first feared.”

And the manager had high praise for the veteran’s inexperienced replacement, Darren Randolph.

“Darren has done really fine. That was his first (competitive) game when he came on against Germany and I thought he dealt with that situation really brilliantly. He gave us a nice command that you wouldn’t expect from someone making his debut. And on Sunday I thought he did really fine.”

Finally, O’Neill said he hadn’t yet had a chance to contact his namesake Michael to congratulate him on Northern Ireland qualifying automatically for the Euros.

“It’s absolutely fantastic. Well done him, it’s a really great achievement.”

And what of an all-Ireland presence in France?

“We’re not out of it, honestly. We’re not out of this by a long shot.”