After Ireland-Wales finished scoreless at the Aviva, Stuey Byrne believes that there are positives to take for Ireland and that the goals will come.
Byrne co-commentated on the match for Off The Ball, and believes that the side can take heart from the past two performances against Slovakia and Wales.
Goals
Ireland have managed just ten goals in 18 competitive matches over the past two years, but Byrne is sanguine about the situation.
"You can see that we are still transitioning as a group. The issue of scoring goals is still a bit of a problem.
"When you take Robbie Keane out of the equation, scoring goals has been a problem for the past 15 years.
"We don't have that luxury, you cannot get those kinds of players anymore. They don't make them like that anymore, it is as simple as that. They are not coached like that.
"What we do need is a better understanding amongst the group that everybody is there to score goals. The way we play now will lead to that. It will lead to opportunities for a much wider range of players.
"There just needs to be a little bit more belief that they can go and get goals. You saw that in the chance for [Conor] Hourihane the other night, and [Shane] Long tonight. That is the difference."
Ireland-Wales positives
Byrne believes that there are significant positives for Stephen Kenny to take from the matches over the past seven days.
"Enda Stevens is one of our best players. He has grown so much, his composure and quality was great to watch. At times, he was one of our most creative players on the pitch.
"I like that Jeff Hendrick is coming back to something like his old self. I have been quite critical of him in the past under Martin O'Neill as to how and where he was being asked to play. He is approaching something like his best again.
"I think you can point to all of the players and say that there has been a big improvement there. The more time this team gets under the belt, the goals will come.
"The chances will come - it has become more of a psychological thing sooner rather than later because otherwise it will start to rot."
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