Martin O'Neill declared himself reasonably happy with the Republic of Ireland's display in their 1-0 friendly loss to Turkey in Antalya.
Declan Rice was one of few players to shine in a team which also included fellow debutants Scott Hogan and Matt Doherty, on a night when the Republic struggled to impose themselves in an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation.
"Some decent things out of the game," manager O'Neill said. "From our viewpoint, it was a good game to play in because Turkey demonstrated their ability on the ball.
"We had the best chance in the first half and restricted Turkey to a number of shouts outside the penalty area, and we might have had a penalty.
"We conceded from a set-piece, a corner kick, which is disappointing, but overall considering a number of our players haven't played and we had a system we haven't really played together, I was pleased with a lot of what we did."
Ultimately, Ireland succumbed to Turkey skipper Mehmet Topal's 52nd-minute volley, although Hogan had passed up a chance to give the visitors a first half lead when he rounded keeper Volkan Babacan, but could not hit the target from a tight angle.
Hogan chance came about when 'Ireland decided to put their foot on the ball', says Richard Dunne #TURIRL Live: https://t.co/uqbG5tdeGh pic.twitter.com/gli6lN2jfv
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 23, 2018
"I thought he might score," admitted O'Neill. "He’s missed the chance but he got there in the first place.
"We have a number of players just coming on, two or three lads making their debut.
"There were a couple of things that we can really work on and couple of things I was quite impressed with."
Ireland captain Seamus Coleman was making his first appearance in green since breaking a leg in a horror tackle from Wales' Neil Taylor, 364 days ago.
"It’s great to be back," the Donegal man told RTÉ Sport.
"Everyone knows what it means to me to play."
