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Ryan Byrne/INPHO

Player ratings: How the Boys in Green fared against France

Martin O’Neill fielded an experimental side tonight.

Colin Doyle: Made one or two decent saves, but was at fault for the second goal. 5

Seamus Coleman: Didn’t do too much too much wrong defensively but gave the ball away cheaply at times. 6

Kevin Long: Couldn’t be faulted for either goal, and acquitted himself relatively well at the back. 7

Shane Duffy: Will be disappointed to have been out-jumped for the opening goal, but otherwise defended well and was named man of the match by RTÉ. 7

Derrick Williams: Made a couple of good strong tackles on his international debut — one of the few positives on a difficult night for Ireland. 7

Alan Browne: Spent most of the evening chasing the ball and was substituted early in the second half. 5

Declan Rice: Tried to play when given the chance but didn’t see enough of the ball, as Ireland were dominated in midfield. 6

Callum O’Dowda: Very rarely got the ball in dangerous areas, and when he did, his composure let him down. 5

James McClean: Showed his customary passion but couldn’t influence the game from an attacking viewpoint, and his delivery was inept on the rare occasions he got the ball in the final third. 5

Jon Walters: Only started two games all season before tonight, and it showed, as he looked off the pace before being substituted just after the hour mark. 5

Shane Long: As ever, cannot be faulted for effort, but spent most of the evening chasing down lost causes. 6

Substitutes: It was nice to see the likes of Matt Doherty and Graham Burke getting a chance, and while they at least brought a degree of freshness to proceedings, none of those introduced could make the necessary impact on the game. 6

Martin O’Neill: It was a friendly, but this felt like countless away World Cup qualifiers. Ireland looked bereft of ideas at times and largely resorted to aimless long balls. How much that is down to O’Neill and how much is due to a lack of quality in the team is debatable, but it is worrying from a supporter’s viewpoint that even in the relatively unpressurised circumstances of a friendly, players look incapable of stringing a few passes together against Turkey, France, Georgia and most decent international teams. 5

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Paul Fennessy
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