Martin O’Neill defended his team selection after the Republic of Ireland lost 2-1 to Poland in Warsaw and were consigned to the EURO 2016 play-offs.
O’Neill made five changes from the side that famously beat Germany last Thursday at the Aviva Stadium with Darren Randolph, Seamus Coleman, Glenn Whelan, James McClean and Shane Long coming into the side.
Wes Hoolahan was among the players left out despite being man-of-the-match in the win over the Germans.
The Irish boss told RTÉ Sport: “I don't think you can put everything down to one particular player. I think you get carried away with this. One player, Wes wasn't able to play at all. He was hoping that maybe he would get 20 or 25 minutes in the game which we talked about beforehand. Obviously he was always going to get on if we were trying to chase the game.
“Cohesion comes from 11 players in the team. It's very, very important to know that. It's just not one player making that difference. We had some fresh legs there in the side again, Shane coming in on the back of a great goal. Seamus coming into the side too. James McClean too and Glenn Whelan too.
We tried to freshen it up a little bit only because of the short turnaround and the journey here. Outside of that, we're still there. We're still there.”
O’Neill pinpointed the concession of two crucial goals in the group for Ireland’s failure to qualify automatically – and how he hoped they could avoid losing goals from set-pieces.
“I was disappointed obviously. I saw them back just there and at half-time. That is the nature of the game. I said it way back at the beginning of the tournament to the players that if we could not concede corner-kicks and free-kicks that we have enough ability to get ourselves to France.
Obviously as time was wearing on then Poland were going to stop the game at every occasion because they obviously want to get through.
“The corner we conceded against Scotland in the 75th minute and the first goal here again today. Having said this, there has been a number of corner and free-kicks that we have defended successfully. I should really be complaining about that.“
It was a frenetic game in Warsaw with neither side able to dominate possession and chances at a premium despite the three goals.
O’Neill said he expected that type of encounter.
“Funnily enough I thought that it might happen because Poland themselves would have been a bit nervous in the game. They got the good start but then we of course equalised pretty much immediately afterwards.
I think I'm surprised to find that the person that hit Shane in the face wasn't actually booked. Then we had a booking picked up a moment or two later. But it was going to be like that. Obviously as time was wearing on then Poland were going to stop the game at every occasion because they obviously want to get through.
“It has been done before throughout footballing history and it became that sort of game. We applied a lot of pressure on and there was always the possibility of conceding a goal as we were pressing forward. It didn't materialise and perhaps Richard's chance was probably the best we could conjure in the second half.”
O’Neill said that the play-off berth was something he would have been content with prior to the final fixture in the group and Ireland have
“I would have done yes. I thought there still was a chance for us to get there without the play-off situation but it was a tough game. It was tough to ask for the same sort of intensity as we had against Germany in the short turnaround. Poland, obviously being at home, with a world-class player in their side.
“We had a chance with Richard where perhaps he could have scored and then we could have been the ones doing the celebrating. That was a monumental win against Germany to give us a chance here tonight. We would have taken the play-offs before these two games and I think I might have taken it before that. We're still in there. We're still in there. And regardless of who we play, we've got two legs to try and do it. It won't be easy but we're still there fighting.”
