Staunton: 'Pleasing but not great'
Saturday, 24 March 2007
Manager Steve Staunton admitted Ireland's performance was not the best after their 1-0 victory over Wales at Croke Park.
Staunton told Sky Sports: 'It is pleasing but it wasn't great. We know we can keep the ball better than that.
'We gave the ball away too cheaply but we looked solid at the back and Shay (Given) was not troubled too much.'
On goalscorer Ireland's performance he added: 'We know he is a clever player with tremendous ability and a good passing range and a lot of strikers would like his goal scoring ratio at the moment.'
Staunton added that Ireland's fitness will be assessed in the morning but striker Robbie Keane will definitely be missing from the match against Slovakia after incurring suspension with another booking.
Keane said: 'I'm devastated. I lost my balance and fell on top of him. I'm devastated but I wish the lads all the best.
'There's still a long way to go and we've got three points today. Hopefully we can look forward to getting another three on Wednesday.'
Wales manager John Toshack felt his side had lacked a killer touch and had no complaints about the result.
He said: 'I thought the first half in particular was as bad as it has been.
'At times I could not believe what I was seeing, the Republic were far the better side and thoroughly deserved their goal. At half-time we could not have any complaints.
'In the second half we pushed them back and controlled things. We were in with a shout until the death but we lacked that bit necessary in the last third of the field.
'As well as we controlled things it was difficult to see where a goal was coming from.'
- Sport features: Man-of-the-match Stephen Ireland talks to Soccer Correspondent Tony O'Donoghue about his historic goal in the 1-0 Euro 2008 Group D qualifier against Wales at Croke Park
- Sport features: Team captain Robbie Keane says he is 'disappointed and devastated' by the yellow card that rules him out of Wednesday's clash with Slovakia
- Sport features: Irish manager Steve Staunton says that his charges made life difficult for themselves against the Welsh
