Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason Knight has said that the side will attempt to address their sluggish second-half starts ahead of Sunday's crucial Euro 2024 clash with the Netherlands at the Aviva Stadium.
Stephen Kenny’s side went down 2-0 to France on Thursday with the crucial second goal coming three minutes after the interval in what is becoming a most unwanted trend for the side.
Greece and France – in Dublin – had already taken advantage of that crucial five-minute period after half-time to strike in this qualifying campaign, and Marcus Thuram added his name to the ever growing list.
"We need to look at that and we need to make sure we get that right, especially for Sunday now because that’s all we can focus on," Knight told RTÉ after the game at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
"Coming out better at half-time, making sure we’re harder to beat those first 10, 15 minutes.
"Start better, especially the second half because I think we started the first half really well; it’s just the second half we have to start well, not concede that second goal, that killer goal."
Knight said that the mood was not overly downbeat in the dressing room after the match and that the focus had very quickly switched to that crucial game with Ronald Koeman’s side, who were 3-0 winners over Greece in Group B.
'Where is this team heading?' - @DietmarHamann and @RichieSadlier assess the future of the Ireland side under the stewardship of Stephen Kenny pic.twitter.com/qaedEfRULQ
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 7, 2023
"I think fundamentally it was all about Sunday really. I think if we get a good result there, things change," Knight continued.
"That’s what we’re gearing towards, we’ve just got to recover now, get ready and go for a big performance and get a really, really big win on Sunday."
"It’s a positive dressing room in there, there’s no heads down," he added.
"Obviously disappointed about tonight but we just need to get past that and focus on Sunday now because it’s going to be a quick turnaround."
The result may not have gone the way he wanted, but it was a special evening for Festy Ebosele who made his competitive debut for the senior side.
The Udinese player said that application wasn’t a problem, and that there had to a sense of realism with what they were facing.
"Obviously we’re playing against one of the best teams in the world, it was always going to be tough, but I think we did well to only concede two goals.
"I think we worked hard, everyone fought hard, and we’ve got another game on Sunday that we’re looking forward to."
With 20 Serie A appearances to his name, the Wexford man is well used to the big occasion, but he said that being sprung from the bench in the 84th minute was still a real highlight.
"Of course, playing against some of the best players in the world, people you grow up watching. Definitely so far one of the highlights of my career."
And Ebosele is hoping to quickly add to his minutes in Sunday’s game in Dublin.
"That’s up to the manager," he replied when asked had he done enough to earn a more prominent role at the weekend.
"I came on and I just wanted to show a little bit of what I’m about. Hopefully I can get more minutes on Sunday, whether it’s starting or coming on."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Netherlands in Euro 2024 qualifying on Sunday from 7pm live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on 2fm's Game On
