MARTIN O’NEILL FELT match fitness for his players was the biggest plus from Ireland’s 2-0 win over Oman at the Aviva Stadium tonight. A first-half goal from Kevin Doyle and a late strike from Alex Pearce gave Ireland a comfortable win, but it was the increased game time in an Irish jersey for players like Darron Gibson and Robbie Brady that pleased O’Neill.
“You could see that the game was important to us because some players definitely needed it. Darron Gibson was getting very tired because he has trained with Everton all pre-season but he hasn’t actually played a competitive game. There were a number of players in the same boat and I think it showed,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill was happy to come away with a win just days before his side start their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign away to Georgia. But despite the win, O’Neill wasn’t entirely happy with the performance.
“We had plenty of possession and we played some nice stuff but we weren’t really able to finish it off. In the dressing room, the players said that there are improvements in this side. We think that, but time is pressing and we have that big game on Sunday,” O’Neill said.
Once O’Neill made some second-half changes, Ireland looked a little more coherent in attack. The Ireland manager acknowledged that he may have finished the friendly with a team that more closely resembles the side that will take on Georgia but despite the increased understanding in attack, O’Neill wants a more clinical Ireland performance this weekend.
“I thought when the substitutions came on they gave us a little more life and energy and a little more impact. We maybe scored the second goal because of that. It was important for us to win the game because it gave us a bit of confidence. Despite the fact that we can improve, I thought we were reasonably comfortable without that real incision but you can say that is the history of the Republic [of Ireland],” O’Neill said.
