James McClean admitted that being dropped from Republic of Ireland’s Group D starting XI inspired him to prove a point when he entered the fray, the highlight being a thunderous tackle on Arkadiusz Milik that brought the home fans in the Aviva Stadium to their feet.
The Wigan winger also made a series of successful raids down the flank and the team was visibly lifted upon his introduction for a tiring Aiden McGeady on 68 minutes.
“It was disappointing not to start the game but when you come on you sort of have your own personal agenda and the agenda of the team to do your best and prove a point,” McClean told RTÉ Sport after the 1-1 draw.
“I got a lot of space, it’s a big pitch out there and I managed to use it well enough to get a few crosses in. Hopefully, I’ve put further thought in the manager’s mind.”
“I think if we had scored earlier on we would have gone on and won the game"
Ireland fell behind to a 27th-minute goal from Sławomir Peszko and rarely troubled the Polish defence in the opening period.
However, they managed to drag themselves back into the game, hitting the woodwork twice, and the former Derry City man lamented that Shane Long's injury-time equaliser came so late in the day.
“I think if we had scored earlier on we would have gone on and won the game,” he said.
“Having scored so late, obviously, it’s a point gained. It keeps us alive and I firmly believe that we can go out to Poland and win as well, and obviously win the game against Scotland in June.
“A draw was a fair result. They were the better side in the first half, we didn’t really get going. We really upped it in the second half and it would have been a crying shame if we didn’t get anything out of the game based on the play.
"We’d have loved three points but the goal at the end keeps us alive.
“We knew the importance of the game, we knew the first half wasn’t good enough. The emphasis was on us in the second half and I think having the talk at half-time, the boys got fired up, you could see that in the second-half display.”
Martin O’Neill’s men play England in a friendly on 7 June before hosting group rivals Scotland six days later.
McClean says they can build on the second-half showing for the visit of Gordon Strachan’s side, who beat Ireland in November and sit two points ahead in the table.
“We were disappointed with how we played against them last time out but if we play the way we played in the second half here then we should be really confident and I’m sure we will be,” he added.
