Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane has admitted that the wait before his side’s friendly match with Hungary was been far from ideal.
The match in Budapest was delayed by 15 minutes as torrential rain and lightening forced the referee to wait before bringing the players onto the pitch.
Keane said: "It was just a bit of a shame - the delay before kick-off killed the rhythm of the game, to be honest with you.
"It took you a while to get your breath because standing in the tunnel for half an hour or 40 minutes before we kick off wasn't ideal preparation, but it's one of those things."
Asked if he ever feared that a game crucial to Ireland's preparations for the tournament might not go ahead, Keane added:"No, no, I think we knew it eventually it was going to be played, but the longer you are standing around...
"I think the ref should have given us probably five minutes or something like that to do a little warm-up.
"We went straight from standing for 40 minutes basically straight to kick-off, which is usually unheard of."
Keane was happy with how the game developed as he spoke of his excitement at the coming weeks:
"It was a good game, it was a good test for us. They are a good side, they like to pass it, so it was certainly a good test.
"It was a good blow for the lads, but everybody now is looking forward to getting to Poland and settling into the camp.
"Everyone is just excited now to get to the base. It's been a long couple of weeks training, and we are nearing the end of that now and ready for the main competition.
"We look forward to settling into our camp in Poland and Sunday's game."
