Paul Corry: Lack of goal threat in final third remains a concern for Ireland

In the end it was a defeat; a performance that didn't have the same drive which was evident against Belgium.

John O'Shea's second game as interim boss, an indicator, as if we needed reminding, of where the Republic of Ireland are at in the football pecking order.

A March window that drew a blank when it came to putting the ball in the net. This, after a 2023 that yielded two wins against lowly Gibraltar.

April will see the announcement of the new full-time manager. A nation no doubt holding its breath as to who it will be! Though, O'Shea did state in his post-match press conference on Tuesday night that he is "more than ready" to manage Ireland. Much then for whoever is in the hotseat to ponder after watching these Aviva encounters.

Against the Swiss, Ireland played in moments. They started well enough, but quickly the team in red gained a foothold and Xherdan Shaqiri delightfully curled in a free-kick on 23 minutes for the only goal of the game. The visitors took off their midfield conductor Granit Xhaka at the break; they seemed content to hold on to what they had for the second 45.

Speaking on 2fm's Game On, former Ireland international Stephen Kelly summed up a chilly evening in Dublin 4, when saying: "John O'Shea will be happy enough with the two performances but I felt there was more in this game if we had gone after it.

"We never really tested their goalkeeper, we were a bit more dangerous, a bit more lively in the second half, without really creating a great chance.

"Defensively we were solid enough and didn't look like we were going to concede - but they took the foot off the pedal.

"[Adam] Idah looked confident running in behind and caused them problems. In the last 20 minutes we looked like we were getting a bit more