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Donall Farmer/INPHO
Opinion

Player ratings: How the Boys in Green fared against England today

In a dull game, few individuals stood out for the Irish team.

Keiren Westwood: Had little to do for much of the game, but looked assured in dealing with crosses and set pieces into the box. 6

Seamus Coleman: Did little wrong, but had a quiet game, with few of his characteristic bursting runs forward. 6

John O’Shea: Put in one or two good tackles and marshalled the defence well, before being taken off in the second half. 7

Marc Wilson: Made one timely interception but was hardly tested intensively from the English attack but almost was at fault for a goal early in the second half, as he was tackled by Jordan Henderson in a dangerous area, only for the onrushing Wayne Rooney’s touch to fail him in front of goal. 6

Robbie Brady: Kept Raheem Sterling relatively quiet and delivered some good balls into the box from set pieces, and now looks a prime contender to start against Scotland. 7

Glenn Whelan: Put in one or two good tackles and did more or less everything that was expected of him, though Ireland looked the weaker side in midfield overall. 6

James McCarthy: Never totally imposed himself on the game but played one or two good cross-field passes and put in a decent defensive shift. 7

Jeff Hendrick: Proved a useful outlet for long balls, particularly in the first half, even if he conceded possession cheaply on occasion. 6

Daryl Murphy: Went close with two half-chances and held the ball up well at times, but perhaps didn’t do enough to justify a starting spot against Scotland. 6

David McGoldrick: Brought a level of finesse to the Irish attack but still seemed rusty and lacked sharpness after a long time out injured. 5

Aiden McGeady: Had one or two encouraging moments, but his set piece deliveries were mixed at best and he flitted in and out of the game. He did track back well though and made a few important tackles, but lacked the necessary sharpness in attack and tired as the game wore on. 5

Subs

Shane Long: Added another dimension to Ireland’s attack with his pace and worked hard off the ball, but had to rely on scraps up front. 6

James McClean: Looked lively early in the second half, but made little impression on the game overall. 6

Jon Walters: Had one decent shot that Hart was forced to parry, but was relatively uninvolved apart from that one moment. 6

Shay Given: Had one nervy moment when he mishit a routine clearance and made one decent save from a James Milner shot, but had little to do otherwise. 6

Harry Arter: Had roughly half an hour to impress and added extra energy to the midfield. Had one particularly good moment, when he robbed his opponent of possession before taking on a shot that went just wide. 7

Paul McShane: Did little wrong in the 20 minutes or so he had on the pitch. 6

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