Ireland played out a scoreless UEFA Nations League draw with Denmark in a damp and dispirited Aviva Stadium this Saturday evening. The starting eleven, with just one left sided player, James McClean, selected, provided much room for thought and speculation. Few, if any, anticipated the deployment of Cyrus Christie in a central midfield role, where he delivered a reasonable performance and had Ireland’s only real effort on goal, which forced an excellent save from the Danish goalkeeper. Darren Randolph was much the busier goalkeeper and produced a number of fine saves while Shane Long battled exhaustively in the lone striker role. The half-time introduction of the left footed Enda Stevens for the injured Callum O’Dowda instigated a better balance to the team while the arrival of Calum Robinson on sixty five minutes offered hope as he provided an improved technical element to the attack. Denmark dominated possession and had several efforts on goal but the retention of a clean sheet should give our defenders an element of satisfaction. We now go into Tuesday night’s UEFA Nations League fixture against Wales with a greater sense of hope, even expectation, of further improvement.