Gutted Richard Dunne slates 'toothless' Ireland as he makes 'Shane Duffy up front' claim

Richard Dunne has slated Ireland under Stephen Kenny and fears the team are going nowhere.

The Irish were beaten by a second string Ukraine side in the Nations League on Wednesday following an embarrassing defeat to Armenia at the weekend.

Kenny took over from Mick McCarthy in September 2020 but has won only two competitive games.

Ahead of a weekend meeting with Scotland, former international defender Dundee reckons there's been no improvement made, claiming the only threat the side possesses is in moving centre-back Shane Duffy up front.

Dunne said: “Again disappointment. There is just a real lack of quality, toothless when we go forward unless Shane Duffy goes up there, there does not seem to be much happening.

“Sadly, I’m probably not surprised by the result even though it is a second string Ukrainian side.

“Overall the team, the performance, the result is just in keeping with what we’ve seen over the last however long.

"Talks of strides being made forward and positivity and all that stuff is wide of the mark. The result (draw) against Belgium in the summer is against a Belgian second team, it’s not where we think we are.

“We want to see progression and the team has progressed to a certain point but there is always that, can you do it on a big night in Armenia against a team that is going to sit in against us, are we actually improving or are we just keeping the ball more?

“The improvement is not noticeable, certainly there is a new group of players and new style of football but in terms of getting results or qualifying for major tournaments, I don’t think we are any closer now than what we were when he took over.”