FIX PENALT XED

Devastation among the players following shootout pain but double-header can repair the mood

STEPHEN KENNY and his Ireland players return to the training ground today but the lingering pain of the shootout defeat in Slovakia is hard to shake.

Matt Doherty agonised over his penalty miss all the way home as the squad – minus Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah – flew through the night from Bratislava.

“Very tough way to lose out on our dream,” tweeted the Tottenham defender yesterday. “We deserved so much more than this during the 120 mins. This one hurts.”

It was a sentiment shared by centre-back John Egan as the players l ook to pick themselves up ahead of their Nations League clash with Wales.

Egan said: “It’s devastating to go out like that after the lads played so well. Proud to be a part of this squad . We’ ll be back.” And Ireland will be back. Tomorrow, i n fact. And again on Wednesday, in Finland.

But the Boys in Green are already on the back foot in the Nations League after banking just one point from six last month.

But is it all doom and gloom? Or do supporters have something to l ook forward to?

Here, Mirror Sport takes a look at the months ahead for Stephen Kenny and his charges.

WITH no Euros involvement, casual Ireland fans might lose interest in the team’s immediate fortunes but the World Cup mission will focus minds. Interest will build with December’s qualifying draw. The games get underway in March with a triple header, another three games in September and double-headers in October and November. Only the 10 group winners qualify automatically from Eurpoe. The 10 runners-up and the two best Nations League qualifiers go into the play-off which will be split into three paths with semi-finals and finals. The three play-off winners

will join i th the 10 group winners i at the World Cup. But with one point from six in the Nations League last month, Ireland can all but kiss that convoluted qualification route goodbye. As third seeds in December, qualifying will be challenging but Kenny won’t shirk away from it.

THERE is no getting away from it, next summer is going to hurt. Whatever sense of dejection you felt when Matt Doherty smashed the woodwork on Thursday, the sick feeling in the pit of your stomach will be 10 0 timimes times worse when Sweden, en, Poland and either Northern rn

Ireland or Slovakia a play their group games in Dublin next year. It was a once in a generation chance e for these Ireland players but having to win two key games away from home in quick succession meant they were always up against it.

STEPHEN KENNY was adamant that Ireland would be much better in Slovakia than they were last month – and he was right. Losing the Euro 2020 play-off is gut-wrenching but Kenny was never going to be judged outright on a game he inherited in unusual circumstances. Signs of his blueprint were all ove over the performan performance in Bratislava and with time – and games – to fine tu tune, Ireland sho should be well pla placed and well pre prepared to at attack the start o of the World C Cup ca campaign.

THERE will be no razzmatazz in the build-up to next summer, no cherry picking of friendly opposition for warm-weather training camps ahead of the Euros. Instead, Ireland are the cannon fodder for the qualified teams. This is the first Euros since 2008 that Ireland haven’t qualified for. And when they missed out on World Cups, they often ended up playing moneyspinning friendlies in America but that won’t be happening in the midst of a global Covid pandemic. Whatever happens next summer, it’ll be prep work for the business end of the World Cup qualifying campaign and no more.

STEPHEN KENNY will always have his sceptics, those who feel his appointment was a risk and those who feel their concerns were validated by the outcome in

Bratislava. And yet regardless of the shootout defeat, there has been a noticeable shift in perception. The beauty of football is that we all have opinions. In the last 36 hours, it was interesting to observe broad agreement across the former players working as TV and radio pundits that Ireland are going in the right direction. Still, Kenny’s reign won’t be assessed at its beginning, but at its end.

THE assessment of Thursday’s performance varied. Some thought it was the best away day display since Paris in 2009. Others saw plus points but couldn’t shake the feeling that Ireland shot themselves in the foot. The love-bombing of Stephen Kenny isn’t to everyone’s liking and the keyboard warriors were tippy-tappy happy in the aftermath. Their view is that Kenny blew it. That overlooks the fact that securing a play-off in the first place had nothing to do with Mick Mccarthy who led the team to a third-placed finish in a two-horse race. The play-off was secured through the Nations League. Kenny’s critics have the platform now to chime on in the months ahead but debate is healthy.

ALAN BROWNE – off the bench – had his best performance for Ireland on Thursday and will be pushing for a starting role going into the Wales and Finland games. He is just one example of a player in this set-up who could really flourish under Kenny’s watch and the manager’s determination to improve a bunch of players – tired of hearing they “are not good enough” – with good coaching will be intriguing to watch.

IRELAND still can’t score. It has been this team’s achilles heel since Robbie Keane’s retirement and evident in the measly seven-goal return from eight qualifiying games under Mick Mccarthy. Had there been precision in front of the goal in B Bratislava, fans would be h humming a different tune today. Martin O’neill bemoaned the fact that Robbie Keane wasn’t 10 years younger, and Stephen Kenny must be feeling the same about David Mcgoldrick, 33 next month, even though he’s not t prolific. But Mcgoldrick’s all round play was exceptional on Thursday and d he’s only being appreciated late in his s career. COVID developments will continue to shine a spotlight on the

Ireland team going into these e

Nations League games, even n if the bubble has burst – so to o speak – on the field. That opens the door for the under-21s who are chasing a first ever finals appearance. Ireland fans want a success story to latch onto and this could be it. But Kenny’s former team may be denied a shot at Italy on Tuesday as the Italians have been rocked by three Covid cases. MISSING out on the Euros is going to cost the cashstrapped FAI about €10m. Having recently requested twice that from the Irish Government’s Covid aid fund, and with a couple of key sponsors leav leaving, these remain the most tes testing of times. The 24 teams a at the Euros each bank a €9.25 €9.25m fee just for getting that far. An additional

€1.5 €1.5m is on offer for each group st stage win, and €750,000 for a draw.

R Reaching the

Last 16 is worth anther

€2m.