Stephen Kenny insisted there were "lots of good things" from his Republic of Ireland side in the 3-2 friendly win over Latvia at the Aviva Stadium but acknowledged that the overall performance was far from perfect.
The Boys in Green took a two-goal lead in the fixture, which effectively acted as a warm-up for the opening Euro 2024 qualifier against World Cup runners-up France on Monday.
But that early advantage gained via goals from Callum O'Dowda and teenager Evan Ferguson was wiped out by a pair of Latvian goals by half-time.
After a flurry of changes, substitute Chiedozie Ogbene scored what proved to be the winner five minutes after the hour mark.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport in the wake of the hard-fought win, Kenny said he was pleased with aspects of the Irish display.
"I felt it was a very entertaining game. It wasn't a perfect performance but there were a lot of good things from it as well," said the Ireland manager.
"I think it would be unrealistic to expect a perfect performance with a lot of players coming in that haven't been playing regularly.
"Having said that, we had a couple of chances to go 3-0 up and had we have done so obviously the game would have been more comfortable. We made life difficult for ourselves.
"It would be unrealistic to expect a perfect performance" - Ireland manager Stephen Kenny on the fact that a number of his squad did not see much game-time with their clubs ahead of the 3-2 win over Latvia #rtsoccer #irllat pic.twitter.com/lJ9SO1CP7h
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 22, 2023
"But we got the winner and Evan Ferguson getting his first goal for Ireland, Callum O'Dowda getting his first goal for Ireland and Mikey Johnston coming on with a bit of brilliance and hit the post and Chieo finished it so a lot of good things really tonight."
With the daunting challenge of France to come, Kenny added that players who impressed like Ferguson and debutant Will Smallbone were in contention for a start next Monday.
"[Ferguson] is certainly a great option for us and we're delighted to have him," he said, adding when asked about Smallbone's credentials for a start next time out: "They're all in the conversation for sure."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
