Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman says his side could have been a bit braver following the 3-2 loss to Serbia.
Goals from Alan Browne and James Collins either side of three goals for the hosts meant Stephen Kenny's side began their World Cup qualifying campaign with defeat.
"You are always disappointed to lose a game, especially going 1-0 up," the Donegal man told RTÉ Sport.
"We had a new system tonight and I thought we did it quite well.
"Ultimately if you concede three goals at this level, chances are you’ll lose the game so it is disappointing but there are a lot of positives to take.
"We tried to play out from the back, we did it well at times, I think. We probably could have stayed a bit braver as the game went on but we’ll learn from that, I’m sure.
"We’re disappointed, some good performances individually but we wanted to come here and win the game and we haven’t done that so that’s the disappointment."
Serbia captain Dusan Tadic provided assists for all the Serbian goals – the equaliser from Dusan Vlahovic and a brace from Aleksandar Mitrovic – and was pleased with the result, which came so soon after the appointment of new coach Dragan Stojkovic.
"It was very difficult, we played against Ireland a couple of time and we know you have some quality players and a strong defence, solid," said the Ajax player.
"Ireland opened well, led 1-0, but then we tried to play our football. We showed some good quality.
"It was not easy, especially with a new coach who we have for just three days.
"Our new coach, a legend of our football, he wants us to play dominant football and we try to dominate the opponent, but we have just three days to adapt."
'We know you have some quality players and a strong defence' - Serbia captain Dusan Tadic talks to @Corktod following their 3-2 win over Ireland #SRBIRL #RTESoccer #RTESport pic.twitter.com/WpArkgxFPc
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 24, 2021
