'You can't start a game like that. It’s sloppy' - Sammie Szmodics bemoans slow start against Hungary

Ireland will have to do without the services of the Ipswich Town forward as he has since been ruled out through injury and replaced by Shamrock Rovers’ uncapped defender Josh Honohan

SLOPPY: Ireland's Sammie Szmodics reacts to a missed chance. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

Sammie Szmodics didn’t quite use the official cliché of “it was a game of two halves” when asked for his assessment on the Republic of Ireland’s draw with Hungary on Saturday night, but his own twist was close enough.

“Yeah, it's crazy. Two halves, completely different,” he began not long after full time.

In fairness, it was the best way to sum up a match that saw Ireland trail by two goals at half time (and also by the 15th minute) before they produced a dramatic comeback against 10-man Hungary thanks to goals from Evan Ferguson and an injury time leveller from Adam Idah.

Only time will tell whether it was a point gained by Ireland or two points dropped against a Hungarian side they will surely be battling for second place in the group with following Portugal’s 5-0 victory away to Armenia.

What is for certain is the Boys in Green need to cut out the mistakes and win themselves in Yerevan on Tuesday night, something Szmodics also acknowledges.

But Ireland will have to do without the services of the Ipswich Town forward as he has been ruled out through injury since speaking to the press and replaced by Shamrock Rovers’ uncapped defender Josh Honohan, who was included in the squad for the friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg in June.

“First half, we still had spells in the game that we had chances, but the two goals are not good enough,” he continued.

“You can't start a game like that. It’s sloppy. We know they're not good enough, but second half we showed what this Ireland team is really about.

“The character to come from behind against a tough team. I know they had 10 men, but sometimes that's harder to play against. And to come away with a point, could have possibly got three. It's valuable for us and vital for us going into the next game.

“Just come together. I don't think changes (at half time) would have changed anything.

“Sometimes it's the case of, you've got yourself into this mess, you've got to get yourself out of it.

“We knew the start wasn't good enough, but the manager actually said at half-time, I believe we're winning this game.

“I believe we're going to win this game and everyone felt the same. As soon as that first goes in from Evan, the comeback's on and after five more minutes of that game, we would have won.

“Every point is vital in this stage of the World Cup qualifiers. So, we've got to take it as a positive and look forward to Tuesday night.

“The expectation is to win. The expectation tonight was to win. Armenia is no different.

“We know they've just lost 5-0 to Portugal. But they've got basically an extra day to recover than us. We travel tomorrow, six, seven hours on a plane. So, we've got to do everything right.

“It's a massive game for us. To come away from these two games with four points would be great for us. We've just got to recover well and stay confident and take positive steps.”