McCarthy: 'It was a horrible game'

Mick McCarthy has described Ireland’s narrow 1-0 win in Gibraltar as a “horrible game.”

After a Jeff Hendrick goal has spared Ireland's blushes against the minnows, the manager said: “I didn’t enjoy one single minute of it until he blew his whistle at the end.

We were playing against a team that had nothing to lose and everything to gain. It was blowing a gale on a difficult surface and that makes a difference.

“But, no excuses, we’ve not played particularly well. This was absolutely set up for an upset.

"I said it to the players beforehand: you turn up, you win, you get the three points. And we’ll play better than that and lose by the way.

“I thought Gibraltar were brilliant, very committed. Darren Randolph got my man of the match award for keeping it at nil-nil.

"I hope they play like that against every other team."