Richard Keogh remaining confident despite defeat

They might argue about whether they had actually set out to settle for the draw but Richard Keogh was one of several Irish players after last night's game at Celtic Park who believed Ireland had done enough overall to earn one.

The Derby County defender had no complaints about the goal with the centre-back admitting that the visitors had paid the price for a momentary lapse in concentration but he felt the team was hard done by to lose a game he believed was evenly contested and keenly fought.

“Yeah, I’m disappointed because I don’t think there was too much in the game. It was a scrappy game, with a lot of passion and we’ve conceded from a set play. Overall I think the draw would have been the fair result but they got the goal . . .

“I thought we could have done with showing a bit more quality at times and I don’t think the pitch helped, I thought that it was quite poor. But overall I do think the draw would have been the fairer result.

Bounce back

“But we can bounce back from this,” he continued. “It’s a tough group but I think we have four of the next five at home which makes a big difference after playing some tough games on the road. The points we have so far are a positive for us. We’re in a good position. There’s a lot to be positive about.”

Stephen Ward agreed that the team will still be in a strong position to qualify when the campaign resumes after Christmas but that was little enough consolation, he admitted, as he contemplated the points that got away.

“We’re still there,” he said, but it just makes it more bittersweet that we didn’t take more points. It wasn’t the prettiest of games to watch but the lads gave everything.

“It was a tough game, a real battle. It felt like a derby game, probably not a lot of quality in the game but we battled and gave everything. So to lose it the way we have . . . I think we deserved a point because we were well in it.”

Scotland substitute Chris Martin said that he and his team-mates were surprised by the poor quality of the Irish performance. "We expected them to play more football. I think we were surprised that we were the only ones trying to play. We stood up to them well, though, and we should have a few more goals."