Stephen Kenny believes he has unfinished business with Ireland

Ireland take on New Zealand on Tuesday night in what might be the last game of Stephen Kenny's tenure, however, the national team manager still believes that he has some unfinished business after three years in the role.

Kenny has been building a new-look squad, while implementing a radical approach to the game, and while the results have not been forthcoming, the manager is convinced that the team have a bright future together.

Attempting to remain positive on Saturday night following the defeat to the Netherlands, Kennny was reluctant to criticise any of the players but rather focused on the character of the team, who have endured a torrid time throughout the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

Kenny stressed the courage that the squad has shown in what was an extremely difficult group involving both France and the Netherlands, and while Ireland put in good performances, albeit losing ones, in the home fixtures, they were evidently out of their depth in the two away games in Paris and Amsterdam.

But the manager is adamant that the team’s fortunes are only going to improve over the coming years as this emerging outfit will benefit from this bedding-in period, which has yielded little in the results department but has proved fertile ground for the development of a new-look squad.

"You're not going to rebuild a team without setbacks, it's not realistic," said Kenny, speaking to the media after the game in Amsterdam.

"Obviously, I'm biased in this viewpoint. Yeah, of course I do," said Kenny, when asked about whether he had unfinished business, regardless of the results.

"I have seen what the team can become now. All of those players have come through together and you have a bit of pain with that.

"The group was an exceptionally tough