Mick McCarthy admitted that his side were forced back at times throughout their hard-fought 1-1 draw with Denmark in Copenhagen, but ultimately the manager was delighted to take a point back to Dublin.
Ireland had to endure a second-half onslaught from the home side at the Parken Stadium and finally fell behind as Pierre Emile Hojbjerg scored the opening goal of the game in the 76th minute.
McCarthy's men regrouped, rallied and finally snatched a late equaliser five minutes before the end as Shane Duffy’s powerful header grabbed a vital away point to stay clear at the top of Group D.
"I am delighted with the point," said McCarthy, speaking to RTE Sport’s Tony O’Donoghue after the game. "As I said beforehand, I would have took the point."
A fortuitous one perhaps, as the home side created several goalscoring chances throughout the game but were only able to convert one, with Yussuf Poulsen, Martin Braithwaite and Thomas Delaney all guilty of missing gilt-edged opportunities.
And while McCarthy emphasised the fact that his side came to compete, he also appeared to acknowledge that Ireland were second best for large chunks, while paying tribute to a quality Denmark side.
"We didn’t just come and sit back," said McCarthy. "We were forced back from time to time, a good length of time sometimes by a very good team who can really pass the ball and split you open."
But McCarthy was certainly taking the positives from the performance and the point in the immediate aftermath of the high-octane encounter, most notably praising goalscorer Duffy who the manager admits is vital at both ends of the park.
"He is a fabulous defender, he puts himself in the way of things, he blocks things. He is great in both boxes and he cleared loads of headers in our box, but he got the goal that mattered.
"We know he is a threat, quite clearly he is, and if you get a good delivery to Shane there is every chance of him scoring."
The manager was also delighted for the luck-less Alan Judge who was sprung off the bench to make a great impact late in the game supplying the ball for Duffy to head home, and McCarthy praised the midfielder who broke his wrist late in the game.
"It looks like he has broken his arm. If he didn’t have bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck at all because he has had some injuries and he has just had a move to a new club.
"Judgey has gone on has put a great free kick in – both him and Conor [Hourihane] practise meticulously. He was terrific, he gave us energy, he gave us legs and he gave us quality as well."
Despite playing on the back foot for the majority of the second half as Ireland defended in numbers on the edge of their box, there was a late attempt to go on and win the game as Callum Robinson was sent on for the final minutes of normal time and the four additional minutes.
"It’s great isn’t it," said McCarthy when reminded that it was Ireland pushing for a winner in the 94th minute of the game.
"That blows any theories off that the lads have lost their fitness over the last three or four weeks. They’ve worked hard and I think that is the reward for it."
Next up for Ireland is Gibraltar back in Dublin on Monday night at the Aviva Stadium and the manager is convinced that his side would be fresh and ready to go again as they look to add another three points to their Group D tally.
"Well Gibraltar have had a tough one as well and they had to travel to Georgia.
"We’ll recover, we have the cryotherapy, so we’ll be alright for Monday and ready to go.
"I think they’ll be running around and wanting to win more than ever so they can leave on a high and go and enjoy their holidays."
