Dara O'Shea is convinced the Republic of Ireland have reasons to be cheerful despite Portugal bringing a difficult season to a bruising conclusion.
Ireland went down 3-0 to the Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portuguese in Aveiro on Tuesday evening as Roberto Martinez’s men completed their preparations for the Euro 2024 finals in style.
By contrast, their victims remain in a state of flux with former head coach Stephen Kenny’s successor still to be appointed seven months after his departure after John O’Shea took interim charge in the last two windows.
But asked what he made of concern back at home over the national team’s plight, Burnley defender Dara O’Shea said: "I’d say, 'don’t worry’. There’s a lot of positives in this squad. Obviously right now there is a lot of uncertainty around Irish football, and what way it’s going, with who’s in charge.
"John has been amazing since he’s come in. The lads have really bought into what he’s brought, and obviously his career as a player was unbelievable and lots of lads – myself included – look up to him. As a manager, he’s been amazing. I think there’s a lot of good things we’re working on.
"The result against Hungary was great for us. Especially at home, we want to be winning games at the Aviva, so to win that game was important.
"We always knew this was going to be a tough ask, away to Portugal before they go to the Euros. We’ve got a lot to look forward to, this group is still building and hopefully we continue on."
Last week’s 2-1 win over the Hungarians was the only one in former Manchester United defender John O’Shea’s temporary reign, although there is a measure of popular support for him to take over on a permanent basis with an appointment scheduled to be made before September’s Nations League opener against England.
Asked about his namesake’s candidacy, the younger man said: "That’s not our decision to make. We all enjoy playing under John and his coaching staff. At the end of the day, we don’t make the decisions, they come from above us, what will be will be and once we know, we can just crack on and go ahead.
"I’ve really enjoyed playing under him. The atmosphere around the camp has been brilliant. Lads are enjoying their football here.
"The wealth of knowledge he and his coaching staff have of international football is unbelievable, so it’s great for us younger players."
The Republic, ranked 60th in the world by FIFA, always looked to have their work cut out against sixth-placed Portugal and after contributing to their own downfall as they allowed Joao Felix to open the scoring, they were killed off by two sumptuous Ronaldo finishes.
Dara O’Shea, 25, said: "We’re kicking ourselves with the three goals we conceded, three goals that we can definitely avoid and limit their chances that way.
"And maybe if they don’t score that early corner, the game is a lot different – an obviously a moment of brilliance from himself as well.
"Look, the three goals, the gaffer pointed to them at the end, they’re avoidable goals. We’d be kicking ourselves at club level if we conceded them so we’ve got to be really disappointed with how we conceded them today."
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