Ireland manager Stephen Kenny was pleased with some aspects of his side's performance as Ireland secured a 1-0 win away to Malta to bring their topsy-turvy 2022 to a close.
Kenny's side came into this one under serious pressure after last Thursday's 2-1 defeat at home to Norway.
And they played much of Sunday's game like a team devoid of confidence, with Callum Robinson's fortuitous goal giving Ireland an important win. Despite the somewhat sluggish performance, Kenny opted to focus on the positives after the final whistle.
Read more: Callum Robinson goal gives Ireland narrow win in Malta
"The expectation is you should be beating Malta whether you play them home or away, but every game away from home in international football is not easy.
"Malta have won five of their last eight at home so they've done alright. It wasn't a classic the game we know that. We know there's room for improvement.
"We'd have liked Callum O'Dowda's goal to go in, he would've deserved it I feel for his performances over the two games.
"I think for us in the last couple of games obviously losing 2-1 to Norway and Scotland, it was important to keep a clean sheet, so we were pleased we did that."
While there were some apparent similarities between Ireland's sluggish start in Malta and their sleepy beginning at Lansdowne Road on Thursday, Kenny opted to use this opportunity to explain how Norway showed respect to Ireland. The Ireland boss praised Norway for being 'brilliant' defensively, and insisted that Norway understood that Ireland 'are a possession based team now.'
In terms of Sunday night's performance, Kenny bemoaned the lack of quality crossing from his players, although he did claim that the 'windy' conditions impacted his player's passing ability.
Mainly though, Kenny focussed on the positives. And one of those positives was Jamie McGrath. The Dundee United star is only now recovering his best form after a disappointing spell at Wigan, but was named Man of the Match in Malta.
"The plusses tonight for us are Jamie McGrath coming in and doing really well. Excellent performance for him, because he has sort of been in the wilderness because his club situation didn't work out in England.
"He found himself not playing and it was great for him to come back and do so well."
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