Gleeson confident evolving Ireland are on right track

The Republic of Ireland's evolution from gritty, defensive battlers to expansive entertainers was never going to be seamless.

On Friday night they coughed and spluttered through a scrappy contest with Hungary that was settled by a Henrietta Csiszar own goal.

This one won't live long in the memory banks, but that in itself is down to the encouraging forwards steps they've taken in the last few months.

Ireland wrapped up their UEFA Nations League group a month ago when they beat Albania 1-0. There was no jeopardy heading into tonight's clash in Tallaght; at least not for the hosts. The Hungarians needed a result to boost their hopes of coming second and going up to League A with the Girls in Green.

Perhaps a certain flatness was inevitable. For interim boss Eileen Gleeson, there's little reason to panic.

"No," she replied when asked if complacency was a factor in the most disjointed display of her tenure.

"The short and the final answer to that is no because, we've talked all week about being better. And it's not that we say, 'ooh can we beat Hungary 5-0?’. We’ve qualified for League A but what we want to try and do is develop so we can compete in League A.

"So you’re talking about being better in your actions. We didn’t manage to do that but it wasn’t complacency. I don’t feel complacency in the group. They work super hard in training and they’re super engaged in all the analysis we do.

"I think they have a really good intention to come out and represent Ireland to the absolute best they can. You see snapshots with singular games and singular campaigns but it’s always to develop towards the Euros, to develop towards the World Cup.

"You have to have that long-term vision while trying to… like I said, performances are not linear so