UEFA Nations League: Republic of Ireland player ratings v Denmark (October 13 2018)

Dave Donnelly reports from the Aviva Stadium

Darren Randolph: 6

In spite of the Danes' possession, the Bray man had little to do for long periods of the game and was solid when called upon to save from Braithwaite late on, and put his head on the line, literally, to deny the lunging Delaney in the first half and took a knock for his troubles.

Kevin Long: 6

Solid throughout against the tricky Sisto on left of a back three. With McClean bombing forward regularly, Long was left to cover a lot of space on the outside and did well, showing a few nice touches along the way.

Shane Duffy: 6

Kept Yussuf Poulsen by far the quietest of the Danish front three, with help from Doherty, and was dominant in the air when called upon against Dalberg, while his distribution from the back was decent, if not spectacular. Deservedly booked in injury time for a shameless dive.

Richard Keogh: 6

The Derby County man has a neat touch in him but he was required for the more mundane task of tracking Dalberg and watching out for the runs in behind of Braithwaite, and he held up his arm for future selection.

Matt Doherty: 5



The Wolverhampton Wanderers man wasn't the swashbuckling presence he is for his league side but, on his competitive debut, he recovered from a couple of early errors to show he can compete at this level. Nearly to blame for a goal just before half time as he didn't deal with a ball to the back post, but managed to smuggle it behind

Cyrus Christie: 6

Surprisingly deployed in the centre of midfield rather than in one of the wing back positions, but acquitted himself well against stern opposition. Solid in the tackle and covered a lot of ground, and was unfortunate to see a very well-struck effort just past the hour saved by Schmeichel.

Harry Arter: 5

Booked for a needless early lunge which limited his ability to impose himself thereafter, but always offered himself up to receive the ball before being withdrawn midway through the second half. A vital block on the line to deny Kjaer's goalbound header with Randolph beaten was his most telling contribution.

Jeff Hendrick: 4



Should have scored when he nicked the ball off Delaney early on, despite Denmark player having stopped for Arter's injury, but with just Schmeichel to beat he failed to find the target. Struggled to get into the game playing off Shane Long and contributed more when he stepped back into midfield.

James McClean: 5

You know what you get with the Stoke City man and he tried to set the tempo with some crunching early challenges, and was his typical energetic presence both on the right and, after O'Dowda's withdrawal, in the centre of midfield. Calm on the ball but his delivery from wide positions wasn't there.

Callum O'Dowda: 6

Ireland's best player in the first half despite taking a knock to the head early on that eventually saw him substituted at half time. Always looking for the ball and visibly frustrated as the ball flew over his head from the defence.

Shane Long: 3

A tough night for the striker, who fed on scraps and found Simon Kjaer more than a match for his physical presence up front,. Never stopped running, but yet another game for the Southampton man without a sniff of goal.

Enda Stevens: 6

Introduced at the break for O'Dowda, which necessitated a shift in positions, but the Sheffield United man got up on down well and showed a few nice touches to link up with Callum Robinson following the Preston man's arrival.

Callum Robinson: 6

Eye-catching first few minutes as he skinned Dalsgaard on the right and stood up a good cross that nobody could connect with, and caused problems afterwards with his pace and trickery, but let down by his teammates not getting up in support.

Aiden O'Brien: N/A

Not on long enough to rate, but the Millwall man got about in his ten minutes on the field.