Ireland players are backing Stephen Kenny as crisis mode engulfs the national team once again.
The manager is under fire after back-to-back Nations League defeats to Ukraine and lowly Armenia.
There is some concern within the FAI as to how quickly momentum ground to a halt. And Kenny knows it is a must that he stops the rot against Scotland tomorrow
“We’ve no points after these two games, but we should have more on the board. We need to try and get a big win against Scotland,” said Kenny.
“I think we’re building something really progressive and people can see that, (but) statistically we’re not backing that up, I know that.”
Kenny - yet to win a competitive game at home - targeted top spot in this Nations League group, but Ireland are in a relegation battle instead.
Yet Ireland ace Jason Knight insists the players still have confidence in Kenny to lead them into next year’s Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The in-demand Derby star claims it is not even up for discussion and said: “There’s no talk of that. The manager has been great with us.
“We’ve had two disappointing results and we need to go again tomorrow and put it right. That’s all that matters.”
For all the talk of a new and vibrant attack, Ireland have drawn a worrying blank in their last two games.
But Kenny does not agree that his team lacks the tools to unlock mid to high level opposition in competitive games.
“We troubled Portugal and Serbia even though we didn’t beat them. We troubled Belgium recently. We have the capacity to do that,” he said.
“We troubled Ukraine too, as we hit the bar to equalise and had a few shots that went over, so we did trouble Ukraine. We can't say we haven't.
“We troubled them as much as they troubled us. I know they were missing (players), but we were missing five as well.”
Kenny added: “People have seen a lot of progression in the matches over the last 12 games (before this window).
“We have introduced a huge number of players who are getting better.
“And we have missed a few players - some key players - in this camp but that is part of it and we can't use that as an excuse.”
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