Ireland Miss Out Again

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Cech's late equaliser 'devastates' Irish
Slovakia 2 Republic of Ireland 2


Republic of Ireland boss Steve Staunton admitted his players were "absolutely devastated" after an injury-time goal robbed them of victory in their Euro 2008 qualifier in Slovakia.


Marek Cech lashed the ball home with seconds remaining to claim a draw and wreck Ireland's hopes of three points which Kevin Doyle's stunning second-half goal appeared to have given them.

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Staunton said: "Judging by the dressing-room the lads are absolutely devastated and it is like a morgue in there.

"But I wouldn't say it is a bad result. We are still on course and we want to win every game but we are playing two difficult games in such a short space of time.

"It's natural when you're playing away from home to have the mindset to drop deep but I want to change that mentality because if we do that we will see the game through."

Staunton said goal-scorer Doyle was taken off with a hamstring strain but that it was too early to tell whether he would be a doubt for Wednesday's match against the Czech Republic in Prague.

He continued: "I don't think it's too serious but we will have to keep checking him over the next 24 hours and see how he is.

"It was a great finish from Kevin. We have seen him do it in the Premier League and also in the League of Ireland."

And Staunton said he did not expect his side to let the disappointment of tonight's near miss affect their performance in Prague.

Staunton added: "I think it's a bonus the game is coming so quickly. They will be down tonight and in the morning but I've no doubt they will soon be getting their minds on to the Czech Republic game."

One bonus for Staunton is that the result effectively leaves three teams fighting for the two Group D qualifying places with Slovak manager Jan Kocian admitting his own side's challenge was over.

Kocian said: "We said we needed six points from these two matches and now we are out of this group of three it is going to be very interesting to see who goes forward from this group."