WATCH: Goal hero Jon Walters delighted to ‘put it right’ after low of Scotland results

By Grainne McGuinness and Shaun Cronin

Double goal-scorer Jon Walters said it was very satisfying to qualify for next year’s European Championships and prove some naysayers wrong.

Walters scored a goal in either half against Bosnia and Herzegovina last night, sealing a place for the Republic of Ireland in next year’s tournament in France.

Results against Scotland had been particularly disappointing for Ireland during the campaign, losing to Gordon Strachan’s men away and only managing a draw against them on home turf.

Walters was asked how it felt to qualify when it looked a distant dream after those results.

“Yeah, a few people were saying that (we wouldn’t qualify) after the game, a few Scottish players,” he answered. “So it was nice to put that right.”

The Stoke striker insisted Martin O’Neill’s men had always been prepared to deal with bumps in the road.

“We knew there were going to be ups and downs in the qualifying campaign. You gotta deal with the lows. It was never going to be a straight line to qualification.”

At the end of the day, the men in green finished the qualifying campaign with the desired result: “We did it the hard way, but we got there”.

Walters also talked about the two goals he scored and the importance of the management and backroom team.

Plus of course reporters had to ask him about this now-famous selfie.

“Yeah, that was a bit of craic!”

Not one for selfies after games but you can't miss one with the president Michael D Higgins ☘☘ have a bit of that! pic.twitter.com/R2EeobeEZZ

— Jonathan Walters (@JonWalters19) November 16, 2015