Errors not down to system

MARTIN O’Neill pointed to ‘schoolboy mistakes’ by his defenders against Northern Ireland on Thursday but insisted they could have happened in a flat back four and were not down to the 3-5-2 formation.

Errors from Shane Duffy and Darragh Lenihan, two of the three central defenders, almost cost Ireland dearly but O’Neill refused to accept the system was at fault.

‘A mistake was made, it had nothing to do with back three or back two. It was an individual mistake. In fact, if one (defender) makes a mistake you should reckon that three at the back should be able to rectify that,’ he said.

As to whether he is committed to keeping three at the back, he said: ‘It’s not cut and dried that I’m going to stay with it.’