Mark Kinsella confident Ireland are on the rise despite 'tough night'

Mark Kinsella said the Republic of Ireland endured "a tough night" at the office against Lithuania, but the former international has no great concerns as Stephen Kenny's men head towards the Nations League.

Ireland are slated to play four games in ten days in June - against Ukraine, Armenia, Scotland and Ukraine again.

With that in mind, Kenny made six changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Belgium for Tuesday night's home clash against the limited Lithuanians, and saw his charges toil before Troy Parrott won it with a fine strike in the 97th minute.

It was no classic, but Kinsella empathised with Kenny and the players involved.

"It is tough," the ex-midfielder told RTÉ's Morning Ireland. "You train with the group for the four or five days, you're just part of it and then you go into a system where six lads come in and haven't played together. I thought it was a tough night for them.

"We'd a lot of possession, passed it around in the middle of the park from defence, looked comfortable on the ball, but we never really had any end product until the lads that came on started to up the tempo a little bit. I don't think anyone really stood out.

"But you won't see six or seven changes from one game to the other [in the Nations League]. It's definitely something to look forward to. We have a run going, we're scoring goals. Hopefully it'll build confidence in the group coming into the summer."

On the man of the moment Parrott, Kinsella added: "Troy will be delighted. Apparently he's been training very well. He might have been disappointed not to start the game but he gave a good response.

"[The goal] is massive for him. He has that impact. He's technically a very good player, he does break the lines, he gets forwards, he's comfortable