Stephen Kenny cut a tired figure in Sofia as he declared himself satisfied with a 1-1 draw against Bulgaria, in a 'surreal' atmosphere.
Shane Duffy's injury-time equaliser claimed a point for the Republic of Ireland in Kenny's first match as manager.
Stephen Kenny on result
"It was a match we would liked to have won, for sure. There was a lot of good play in the game, a lot of good attacking wing play, kept possession quite well. We had some good chances but just couldn't capitalise on the chances we had."
Kenny was circumspect on the chances allowed to the Bulgarians over the 90 minutes.
"They beat the Czech Republic 1-0 here, they are very difficult to break down and they are a very good counter-attacking team.
"Considering it was a late equaliser, you are hoping that is a point gained rather than anything else. It was a terrific header from Shane Duffy and Robbie Brady did brilliantly to chase down the first ball and the delivery for the corner."
"We showed resilience but plenty to work on..."
Ireland manager Stephen Kenny spoke to FAI TV after the 1-1 draw against Bulgaria 👇#COYBIG | #BULIRL pic.twitter.com/944JeEeZQm— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) September 3, 2020
Kenny is looking ahead to the match against Finland on Sunday, and highlighted the positives from an Ireland side that did not have much by way of training together before this match.
"There was some good play but room for improvement still, we don't have much time but we learned quite a few things tonight and we'll hope to improve.
"The players gave everything tonight, they haven't even played a league game yet as they are still in pre-season.
"We go back in the morning, arrive tomorrow afternoon, train Saturday and play Sunday.
"We're going to get ourselves ready for Finland. We won't have support, of course, and you want a whole passionate support. It was surreal here without support tonight, that is my first game without that and it is surreal.
"There were a lot of good points and some areas of improvement."
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