Former Dundalk manager Vinny Perth believes patience is required as the Republic of Ireland adapt to a new system under Stephen Kenny.
Ireland have failed to win in any of Kenny's first eight matches in charge and their goalless run stands at over 11-hours following last night's 0-0 draw against Bulgaria in the Nations League.
The Boys In Green, who were without 14 players due to a combination of COVID-19 and injuries, avoided relegation to League C but will be among the third seeds for the World Cup qualifiers draw next month.
On Off The Ball on Monday night former Ireland midfielder David Meyler said the team need to find a way to win ugly and Perth responded to those comments on this morning's OTB AM.
"I listened to David and I agree with him to a point, I think he used the phrase 'need to play a little bit ugly at times', there's a balance to be found.
"The problem is though, there's just been no consistency, we haven't been able to create a team. There hasn't been players on the pitch who you could say, 'this is definitely Stephen Kenny's style'.
"Yes we've passed out from the back, at times maybe a little bit too much. In the first 172 passes last night, only 32 of them were in the opposition half, so that's something that needs to be fixed.
"To be fair, how do you fix that when the team last night won't represent Ireland's starting XI?
"Who knows what way we can play until we know what players we have. We have a massive issue, we've players not playing football. By the time the next international match comes, you may find that some players are playing regularly.
"Will Jayson Molumby even get into the Brighton squad between now and Christmas? We don't know. Aaron Connolly has been out of it since Brighton signed Danny Welbeck.
"We're in a difficult situation but we are changing, people have to accept that, because that's what they wanted. Now that change is coming, we need to be patient and hope that our players get first-team football.
"We can't create a style until we know what's available and I think last night proved that. We had nothing about us last night for obvious reasons, we weren't a team."
18 November 2020; Shane Duffy of Republic of Ireland reacts after the UEFA Nations League B match between Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Perth also feels there's plenty of talent in the Irish squad, which will shine through when the group has a chance to play more football collectively.
"Ireland needs to build a team, needs to build a club team mentality about what we do. I think Wales have done that under Ryan Giggs and before under Chris Coleman. Northern Ireland have definitely done it under Michael O'Neill, Scotland have started to do it.
"We need time in order to allow this team to develop. We need to give them a bit of breathing space and I think the players and staff will be glad to see the back of international football for a while.
"We've a Premier League style back four with Matt Doherty, Seamus Coleman, Shane Duffy, John Egan and Enda Stevens, we're really, really strong in that department. What's ahead of them is actually exciting and we shouldn't lose sight of that.
"Troy Parrott, Adam Idah, Jayson Molumby, Aaron Connolly, Jason Knight, even Conor Coventry looks an exciting player for the 21s. Michael Obafemi, James Collins, Dara O'Shea, we've got a huge amount of things to be positive about.
"With the players we have and those who are coming through, when we played Georgia a couple of years ago, they had more possession that us at the Aviva Stadium. We have to flip that back into our favour, have more possession, create more chances and I think we will."
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