• Manager upbeat but irked by suspensions for Jon Walters and John O’Shea
Says bans picked up at group stage should not be carried into play-offsRather than dwell on Sunday’s anticlimatic 2-1 defeat in Poland,the Republic of Ireland manager, Martin O’Neill, or emphasised the positive aspects of a Euro 2016 campaign that will still finish on a high whether his team emerge triumphant from a two-leg play-off in November.
On the back of a thrilling win over Germany in Dublin,Ireland went to Warsaw confident of gaining at least the high-scoring draw they needed to qualify for France but Poland prevailed and progressed to the finals instead. O’Neill says finishing third in a group that also included Scotland and the world champions Germany was a laudable feat and has convinced him that his team are well-behaved enough to come through next month.
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Source: theguardian.com