Hallgrimsson rues 'painful' 1-0 defeat to Austria in Linz

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson described their 1-0 defeat by Austria in Linz in their penultimate Nations League game on Saturday as "painful." Substitute Sasa Kalajdzic poked home the winner at the Raiffeisen Arena, ensuring Austria claimed top spot and automatic promotion to League A.

The loss left Republic of Ireland third in Group B3, a point behind Kosovo, with one match remaining. Chiedozie Ogbene squandered a late chance to equalise and Hallgrimsson was frustrated his side left the Raiffeisen Arena empty-handed despite having chances that could have kept their hopes of winning the group alive.

"It was painful not to get anything from this match. I think we deserved at least a draw, but we needed the win for this game to count," he told RTE.

"I think we had the chances, the openings and the positions to do that, but this was not our day in goalscoring, so it is disappointing. "Everything that we asked the players to do, they did and I think they gave everything. "For that reason, we should be happy in a way but, obviously, we don't want to be building something, we want to win games," he said.

Hallgrimsson singled out the defensive lapse from a corner that led to Austria's goal and lamented Ireland's inability to clear the set-piece. "We actually did have a lot of chances from that second ball in the box but it kind of never fell for our players in a good position," he added, and added: "They have a corner that they score from on the second or third touch. That's the game at this level. You need to be switched on and focused every second of the game."

Ireland are a point behind Kosovo and will host them in Dublin on Tuesday; they lost 1-0 in Pristina in September and Hallgrimsson said he needs his side to finish strongly at home and pick up a vital three points. "It was always that [Kosovo] game that was more important, but we were just so close to winning this one and being able to win the group but this is football at this level, it is all down to details," he added.

A victory over Kosovo in Dublin on Tuesday would secure second place in Group B3, deliver a promotion play-off and move Republic of Ireland into pot two for next month's Euro 2028 qualifying draw.