Mark McGuinness' Ireland debut turns into Wembley nightmare on bittersweet night
The Boys in Green were stuffed 5-0 by England at Wembley Stadium, ending their Nations League group stage on a downbeat note
Mark McGuinness admits he had mixed emotions about his Ireland debut after England delivered a withering slapdown.
The Luton Town defender was catapulted into the mix at Wembley, partnering Liam Scales at centre-back with Nathan Collins deployed in a deep midfield role.
Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson told the former Under-21 international during the week that he would be starting, just so he could get his head around it.
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But McGuinness has bemoaned the ‘cheap goals’ that Ireland gave away, especially from set pieces.
McGuinness said: “Look, I’ve mixed emotions as it was a very tough game and not what we wanted.
“Still, it’s a really proud moment for me and my family and I'm really proud of that regardless of the result.
“But we still wanted to win and felt that going into this game, we had a lot of confidence and I think that's hurt us the most.”
McGuinness continued: “I thought there were a few positives going in at half-time, and we felt comfortable in our shape and we set up and worked on our game plan.
“We executed it well but then it opened up in the second half and circumstances changed with the red card, but it was no excuses.
“We just let in a few cheap goals and they were the better side. They were all off set pieces I think.
“It's something we feel we should be strong aerially as we're physical and dominant, so that's disappointing.
“The frustrating part is that we have a long break until we meet up, but it also gives us time to work on stuff and go back to our clubs and get the head down and freshen up.
“We will review this and see where we did well and where we can improve on. We have to get some points off these top teams if we're going to progress in major competitions”
Hallgrimsson has told his team that they will need to pick up results against heavyweights like England if they are to qualify for tournaments.
The World Cup draw takes place on December 13 and Ireland are not back in action until the Nations League playoff in March.
McGuinness added: “We showed glimpses of how we can compete against higher-ranked teams.
“We believe in what we do and I think we’ve to stay with that for positivity going into the next camp.”
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