STEPHEN KENNY ADMITTED Ireland’s 1-0 win away to Malta “wasn’t a classic” as he praised his side for getting the job done and keeping a clean sheet in difficult conditions.
Callum Robinson capitalised on a mistake in the 55th minute to score the only goal of the game as the Boys in Green ended 2022 with a win after losing 2-1 to Norway on Thursday.
The Ireland manager cited the quick turnaround in fixtures when he spoke to RTÉ following the victory, as he pinpointed Callum O’Dowda and Jamie McGrath for their impacts.
“Well, two games in three days. An important game against Norway at home which was a real tactical battle. Norway are a good team and I felt we got a lot of things right and a lot of things we didn’t get right that we are capable of rectifying.
“Tonight, the expectation is that you should be beating Malta whether you play them at home or away. But every game in international football is not easy. Malta have won five of the last eight at home so they’ve done alright.
“It wasn’t a classic, we know that, and we know there is room for improvement. We’d have liked Callum O’Dowda’s shot to go in, it was a brilliant run from him. He deserved it, I feel, for his performances over the two games, but for us, in the last couple of games losing 2-1 against Norway and 2-1 against Scotland, it was important to keep a clean sheet, so we’re pleased we did that.
“Norway are a brilliant out of possession team and they paid us a lot of respect,” Kenny continued when asked if he had similar frustrations tonight to the midweek defeat at Aviva Stadium.
“They scored six against Northern Ireland, beat Serbia away. Norway are a good team. They played a mid to low block against us because they understood that we are a possession-based team now and that we would have a lot of the ball.
“The movement of our front two, they nearly played as twin strikers rather than split strikers and we need to threaten in behind. We didn’t do that in the first half. Certainly, Norway handled what we did.
“It was a different game tonight, difficult to break down with three big centre halves. They dealt with crosses well. It was very windy here, set pieces were blowing in the wind and crosses weren’t of the highest quality because of that.
“Pluses for us, Jamie McGrath coming in and doing really well. It was an excellent performance from him because he was sort of in the wilderness after his club situation didn’t work out in England [at Wigan Athletic]. He found himself not playing so it was great for him to come back and do so well.”
With the European Championship qualifiers beginning with the visit of France to Dublin in March, Kenny insisted his options are strengthening.
“We’re missing some forwards at the moment. Callum [Robinson] got his eighth international goal which is great. Chiedozie [Ogbene] is learning how to play against deep defences because he works best in space because he’s electric, and he has played most of his career on the right wing. So these are things we can take.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to utilise your squad too in these matches. We have competition for places at centre back. We definitely have that. I feel we are getting more competition in mifield, we’re getting there.
“Nevertheless, we can’t be certain who will be available in March, that’s the nature of international. But I feel we have more depth to the squad that we had.”
