Roy Keane reckons things will only get worse for Ireland next year after last night's drab draw with Bulgaria at the Aviva Stadium.
Stephen Kenny has endured a luckless start to his Ireland reign with Covid cases depleting his squad and the Boys in Green have been kept scoreless in their last seven outings.
And Keane, who was Ireland's assistant boss during Martin O'Neill's tenure, predicts 2021 will prove to be just as disappointing for the national side.
Kenny was without 13 players last night due to Covid-related reasons and injuries but Keane blamed Ireland's poor performances on a 'lack of quality', before predicting that they will struggle to qualify for the World Cup as third seeds.
He told ITV: “It comes down to a lack of quality. These lads play in the lower leagues in England and that’s not a great sign for Ireland.
“OK, there are players to come back but with the draw coming up and seeding being so important, people might look at where Ireland are now and think ‘well it can’t get any worse.’ I think it will. I think it will.
“Even the last few months, the opposition hasn’t exactly been that great but they just can’t seem to score a goal and it’s a real lack of quality.”
Former Dundalk supremo Kenny, 49, insisted it was too early to judge his Ireland side earlier this week, considering the chaotic circumstances over the last number of months.
Speaking after last night's game, the Dubliner insisted Ireland will bounce back next March.
He said: “Considering what the players have had to deal with, their attitude has been terrific. They are proper men.
“I think morale will be very high in March once they see the draw for the World Cup and there is anticipation of going to play in those games.
“A lot of players have really put themselves forward and given me food for thought - there is genuine competition for places now.
“We have a real squad for the World Cup qualifiers in March.
“Those qualifiers are really something exciting to look forward to and we’ll be all the better for what we learned in the last two windows - myself and the coaching staff too.
“We have a lot to look forward to in March once we finalise the qualifying group next month.”
