Blues winger Chiedozie Ogbene felt the Republic of Ireland’s poor start made their 2-0 defeat to England in Dublin “a hard battle”.

Ogbene was named the official Player of the Match following the UEFA Nations League defeat as he won his 21st cap.

“I think we gave ourselves a hard battle from day one,” he told RTÉ Sport. “The first 20 minutes, just a poor start, two balls in behind cost us the game ultimately.

“The gaffer in the second half said just stay in the game as much as possible, I felt like the second half we were more on the front foot trying to get pressure on them.

“The damage was done first half obviously, a quality nation, we know where they're ranked in the world but ultimately the first half is the reason why we lost the game today.”

Ogbene admitted he ought to have done better with a rebound opportunity just prior to Declan Rice giving England the lead, Jordan Pickford having saved from fellow Town forward Sammie Szmodics.

“I should have gone first time,” he reflected. “Something the manager said, I wanted a perfect shot, set it up right, but sometimes you have to trust the effort and put my foot through it.

“We had some moments, but just maybe the final ball to end could have helped us in the game.

“We live and we learn against a great nation like this. We have to look to Tuesday against the likes of Greece, these will be our battles, the likes of Greece and Finland.

“With the support that we had to today, [we have to] come out and give it our all and hopefully get some results.”

Photo: Andrew Surma/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

poet added 11:11 - Sep 8 I only saw the first half, but in my opinion, this lad was one of the best of the 22 players on the pitch.
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NorthLondonBlue2 added 12:05 - Sep 8 Looked to me like England were playing more of a high press while Ireland hoofed the long ball. Ireland were also too slow on the transition back to defence. Looked very disorganised for England’s first. Ogbene saw a lot of the ball and looked useful. Thought he was in great positions for us against Fulham, but wasn’t passed the final ball much. I’m sure we will make better use of his talents back in the PL. Proud to see the three Ipswich lads on an international stage though.

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irishtim added 12:18 - Sep 8 Pity we didn't sign Kelleher.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 14:46 - Sep 8 Agree Chiedozie did quite well against the 4th ranked team in the world. Sammie didn't get much of a look-in (not his fault) but didn't disgrace himself either. I'm sure both will be good for us in the PL as we go forward.
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SickParrot added 14:56 - Sep 8 Chiedoze was Ireland's best player. His final ball was sometimes poor but he was a constant threat on the right wing.
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