John O’Shea frustrated as Slovakia show up defensive deficiencies
Although the 2-2 draw came in a friendly, and Martin O’Neill had injected some experimentation into this side, Ireland’s inability to retain a lead left the vice-captain annoyed.
“You’re disappointed to concede at any time but just before half time was very frustrating,” he said of Paul McShane’s own-goal approaching the break.
“There were lots of positives in the first half but when you’re conceding goals, that’s something you want to cut out.
“It’s a big thing to learn from tonight. If you’re 2-1 up, we should get to half time 2-1.
“For the first goal, it came from them having a throw-in from just inside their own half. Then we had the blow of losing Rob Elliot to injury too.
“There were positives. We’ve reacted fantastic from falling behind and gone ahead 2-1.
“We had a lot more possession of the ball tonight than against Switzerland. We pressed high and that’s something the manager spoke about that we needed to do more tonight.
“I thought that was the case especially in the first half when Wes (Hoolahan) was really picking up important positions and you had Shane Long and James McClean stretching them. We were able to dominate quite a bit.
“Of course, we would have liked to have gotten the win but we’ve remained unbeaten. Also, a lot of other lads got a game and a chance of impressing the manager.
“We’re all going back to our clubs and focusing on that for now.
“We saw tonight with Rob, and the manager is fully aware, that anything can happen with injuries — it could happen in the last game of the season.
“That’s why these games are good in a sense, you can see players coming in and showing what they can do.”
One player to cement his status in the starting line was Darren Randolph, even if he didn’t envisage his latest opportunity arriving from the substitute’s bench because of an unfortunate injury for his rival Rob Elliot.
Last night’s occasion had been earmarked for Elliot to lay out his credentials but a freak injury incurred during the concession of the opener leaves those ambitions in tatters.
“I asked the doctor after the game and I think he’s ruptured his ligaments,” revealed Randolph.
“He’s waiting on scan results but I think he needs surgery. I don’t know how long he’s out for but he’s been on fire for his club and he was picked tonight.
“It’s horrible to get injured anytime but I know how hard he’s worked.
“I’ve grown up with him since I was 15, when we were at Charlton together, so I really feel for him.”
“I wasn’t expecting to come on and obviously it was very unfortunate the way things unfolded. You could do that another 90 times and it wouldn’t happen.
“He probably does the same thing every day in training and it’s fine, it just happened tonight.
“I wish him a speedy recovery and I’ll give him a ring on the bus, see how he is.”
As West Ham United’s regular goalkeeper in cup competitions this season, Randolph has next week’s FA Cup quarter-final replay against Manchester United to plan for, with a potential date at Wembley against Everton on April 23 a tantalising prospect.
His insight from the past week of seeing Kevin Doyle and now Rob Elliot suffer injuries conditions him to apply a sense of here and now on his outlook as the business end of the club season dovetails into the European Championships.
“I wouldn’t mind a few Wembley appearances but I don’t want to jinx myself, we have to get through the replay first,” he insisted.
“Injuries like that can happen to anybody and at any time. But we’ve had a couple of good games here, our unbeaten run continues and we can look forward to the summer.
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