James McClean admitted to being ‘bitterly disappointed’ by Ireland’s performance in their 1-1 draw with Georgia in their World Cup qualifier.
Ireland went into the game level on points with group leaders Serbia and with a perfect record against Georgia, having never dropped a point to them.
Martin O’Neill’s side then got off to the perfect start as Shane Duffy’s fourth minute goal gave them the lead, but they failed to kick on from there and Valeri Qazaishvili levelled on 34 minutes before Georgia went on to the dominate the game.
Ireland struggled for possession and while they did create several goal-scoring chances, they were second best to a side who have yet to win a game in this campaign.
McClean was named man-of-the-match for his tireless running and effort but he admitted afterwards that it had been a bad day at the office for Ireland.
"We’re not happy, we didn’t deserve to win the game," he told RTÉ Sport. "We scored early on and rather than go for the jugular we just sat back and protected the lead.
"We looked flat, I don’t know what it was but they were by far the better side. We were better in the second half but by then, I don’t know.
"It’s a tough place to come, we’re disappointed, we would have liked three (points) but we got one."
While Ireland struggled for any sort of fluency on the pitch, they still had chances to nick a win.
"We were far from at our best tonight" - Man of the Match James McClean disappointed with 1 point from #GEOIRL #COYBIG #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/wOWaGiBQbK
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 2, 2017
McClean in particular had a late opportunity after being played in on goal by Shane Long only to see the ball get just too far ahead of him in the penalty area.
Reflecting on that opportunity, the West Brom winger said: "We did have chances at the one at the end, the fact that the it’s been dry here since we’ve been here, the pitch was watered, I take a touch and it skids away from me. Before I know it, the ‘keeper is on top of me.
"Look it’s a good chance, we’ve had a few good chances tonight."
Despite the disappointing nature of the result, Ireland have the chance to put things right on Tuesday evening when they host group leaders Serbia at the Aviva Stadium.
For McClean, the objective is clear now. "We were by no means at our best but if anything it simplifies our job on Tuesday night – we have to win," he said.
"Maybe it’s mentality or maybe they were just better than us on the on the night. We’re bitterly disappointed by we can’t beat ourselves up too much, there’s still a job here to do and we know what we have to do."
