Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Enda Stevens reveals what Mick McCarthy said in dressing room after lacklustre Gibraltar win

Not surprisingly it was a fairly flat home dressing-room after Ireland's victory last night.

But Mick McCarthy was quick to put things in context for his players as they looked down from on high in qualifier Group D.

"We kinda walked in afterwards a little bit flat," explained left-full Enda Stevens. 

"And Mick said, ‘What are you flat for? You have 10 points'.

"He said that was his aim when he looked at the fixtures at the start and so he just said, 'Go and enjoy the summer - and see you in September'."

Earlier, at half-time, McCarthy had tried to instil more life into his frustrated charges.

"He just wanted us to get on the ball more, to get forward more at a quicker tempo and higher up the pitch and put them under more pressure," said Stevens. 

"We worked on pressing the life out of them and improved in the second-half.

"We’re still growing and learning as a team. We’ll only get better. We’ve won three games and drawn one, we’re unbeaten and we’re going into September top of the group."

For Stevens on a personal note, it has been a brilliant end to the season with promotion secured to the Premier League with Sheffield United and starts in the qualifiers against Denmark and Gibraltar.

"Obviously it’s where you want to be, playing games for your country," he said. "Hopefully we can really kick on.

"I just want to actually rest up now, have time off and clear my head a bit from football. 

"It’s been a long season. I can enjoy it now, it has been a successful one for me personally. I’ll just focus on next season when it comes".

If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.            

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.