Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has insisted that his side's Euro 2016 qualifying hopes are still alive, despite Friday night's defeat against Scotland.
The Green Army suffered a 1-0 reverse at Celtic Park to slip down to fourth place in Group D.
That disappointing result was followed by a morale-boosting 4-1 friendly triumph over the United States last night, however, and O'Neill has now turned his attention to next year's 'vitally important' fixtures.
"The qualifying games are the most important and everything else is a build-up to them, even including tonight," the 62-year-old is quoted as saying by the Belfast Telegraph.
"We scored four goals tonight and it was nice, and it was nice to regain momentum from Friday night. But the most important fixtures, again, are the matches that we have in 2015, so those are important for us. We have seven points on the board.
"It was disappointing not to have got something from the game on Friday, but it is not fatal. Regardless of the result on Friday, if we had got a point of out the game, we would have still been looking to try to beat Poland and Scotland. Those next two matches are of vital importance to us."
Poland currently lead the group standings, while Scotland, Ireland and world champions Germany are locked on seven points apiece.
Daniel Lewis
