Manager's reaction: Tom Humphries gets the reaction of Brian Kerr after last night's game and his thoughts after this two-game trip to eastern Europe.

This has been a tense trip for Brian Kerr. You would expect it to be that way. There has been no honeymoon, no settling in period. One friendly joust in Scotland and then off to Eastern Europe on a two-leg jaunt and no cushion to ease the fall if things go wrong.

He looked tired. For the past while he has been a man keeping a whole line of plates spinning. Settling into a job, scouting teams, watching players, preparing the logistics of tough trips and presenting himself to a squad which virtually grew up under Mick McCarthy. A lot going on there. The first breath he draws will be this morning.

As if recognising his need the Albanians laid on a little row of sitting room armchairs in a small room beneath the stadium. The seething crowd were hitting the Tirana night, flags waving and horns blazing but Kerr settled into his armchair as if he were at home. A chance to relax at last. The setting and the posture gave his comments more of the feel of a fireside chat than a state of the nation address.

"I think it was a satisfactory result for both teams. A fair result. Albania are a good side, have five points from three games, Neither team created too many chances. I think defences were on top at both ends. We came to Georgia and Albania with no points. We're happy to have four now. Albania have had three very good results. To draw with Switzerland, beat Russia and draw with us shows a great amount of progress. Every team in the group has a chance." The Albanians have first dibs on the questions. Their room, their dime.

Your players were asking the referee about the time. Why? Kerr smiles to himself. You expect that the answer is going to include the words "bleedin" and "obvious." He's a better diplomat than that though.

"I think they were anxious that the game would be as long as possible." Nervous laughter form the Albanians. Inscrutable grin from the translator. Next? Mister Kerr , you said yesterday when asked what would be the strongest part of your team that you would be able to say after the match. What do you say now? "I say that now you've seen us you can tell me." More puzzled looks. The translation sinks in. Whatever happened the traditional question-cliche-question pattern to these things. Kerr fills the dead air with some extemporary thoughts. "The game here was more difficult than Tbilisi. It was tough playing the two games so close to each other. I think the Albanians probably found the same. After the game they had on Saturday they were a little tired."

Shay. First Irish question is lobbed. Shay Given was criticised by some people after Saturday night but he was very good tonight. Kerr won't give a centimetre.

"Well I don't know who criticised Shay. I didn't. I thought Shay was very very good tonight. He made a crucial save early in the game which settled us and the rest of his play was top class. No saves to make just his interceptions and reading of the game. And his presence. What you'd come to expect from a man of his ability."

Robbie Keane hasn't quite worked out up front. In the absence of a 100 per cent sharp Keane we got a player still willing to bust a gut. It didn't work out. In retrospect did Kerr feel the team missed out on the physical presence of Gary Doherty.

"Yes we did. But the ball didn't stay up the pitch for long enough at times. Robbie wasn't in 100 per cent condition to play a match of that tempo. He's missed training and games and had the trauma of last week. It's understandable that he wasn't at his best."

So what's done is done. After a scoreless night in Georgia the group has a satisfactory looseness to it. What is Kerr looking at down the road? Is it possible to top the group now? "I'm not looking at anything." he says. "A few weeks ago we had no points. I said four points was a reasonable target. I hoped the other games would look after themselves and the results would go in our favour. We're back in contention. It will be hard. We're in fourth place now. We've just achieved our first points in two difficult games. Albania were on a high tonight after their best result ever so, in the circumstances, it was satisfactory. There were lots of good things. The centre back combination hardly put a foot wrong."

He muses on, sitting in his armchair. The Albanians have gone off chasing their players. It's getting noisy again in the corridor outside. Brian Kerr sits there putting some shape onto this time in his life.

"It is hard to compare the two games we've had. Tonight was more intense and pressured. Because of the result they had you could see what it had given them. I'm relieved that we have achieved four points from the two games. It was a fair bit of pressure on everybody. We have three home games to come, a friendly game to come on the 30th of April. It has been important to put a few results together to keep things interesting."

So all the way to Berne? Rally us Brian! He sighs. He can't be as definitive as we want him to be. He offers no hostages to headlines.

"The match in Berne is still three games away. If, after losing the first two matches, we are still in with a shout then that's as much as we can expect. It's been a tough time around the national team. Losing a manager, replacing him, players retired, players injured, Robbie difficulty. It's been a hard enough old time surrounding the team. We're back on the road a little bit now. There'll be less doom and gloom from now on." Less doom and gloom. It's a start.