O’Neill - It hasn’t diminished my enthusiasm for the job at all

Martin O’Neill displayed a disappointed figure following his team’s 4-1 defeat to Wales this evening in the Nations Cup opener but vowed that his enthusiasm for the job hasn’t been dented in the slightest.

“This was a really tough evening for us and regardless of the injuries we should be doing better, it hasn’t diminished my enthusiasm for the job at all.”

Against a team littered with youth and arguably inexperience, O’Neill’s team were second best from the very first whistle and were ruthlessly exposed time and again on the night by a team who have been very well coached, and a team filled with players who have been empowered by their new coach to simply express themselves and enjoy their football.

O’Neill admitted that they were well beaten in every aspect over the ninety minutes and that it was a hard night for everyone involved.

He said after the game “We were well beaten in the game right from the start tonight and it was a tough, tough night for us.

“We will watch the game back again and pick out where we made mistakes, more than a few of course.”

Not for the first time O’Neill reiterated the fact that his team across the field need to be a lot more positive on the ball and do more with the ball from a forward point of view when they receive it into themselves and not lose it so easily.

“We have to be more positive on the ball, we have to be stronger on the ball and deal with it when it comes into you and play the right ball which we aren’t doing well at all at the moment. It’s the sign of a good player being able to do that.” said a frustrated O’Neill following the game.

The lack of game time that some of his players are currently seeing is one possibility for why the Irish seemed to flop so bad in Cardiff.

Quite a few of O’Neill’s squad are plying their trade down through the Championship and of this group a certain number again aren’t seeing what you would call regular first team football with a lot of the Irish contingent having to put up with a stop start beginning to the season.

He said “We do possess players who aren’t playing on a regular basis and it is difficult for them but we should still be doing better, we came here eleven months ago and won.

“We will definitely get up for the two games next month. I can appreciate that confidence does take a hit but we will be right back.”

Eleven months is a long time in this game. The result in Cardiff and James McClean’s goal last November is a distant memory. Nine goals conceded in the last two competitive fixtures and a team that seem to have no direction and little confidence means that O’Neill certainly has one of the biggest challenges of his managerial career to date ahead of him.