Ireland U21 side suffer fourth loss in a row

Slovenia 3 Ireland 1: Martin O’Neill won’t have his pessimistic outlook about the dearth of emerging stars brightened by this latest U21 capitulation.

Yesterday’s defeat in Koper was Ireland’s fourth in a row and renders their remaining three games academic for the purposes of qualification.

Noel King’s side required victory but it never seemed likely once they fell behind after just 14 minutes to a Slovenian side firmly in the mix to reach Poland next year.