"We're in the dressing room wondering did we deserve to lose that," Stephen Kenny said after his Ireland side lost 1-0 to Finland.
"The answer is, no, we probably didn't but we have done. That's not good enough from my point of view."
It was the fourth consecutive game in which Ireland have failed to score. Shane Duffy's late equalising header against Bulgaria in Kenny's opening game as Ireland manager remains the only goal scored during his reign.
"It's hard to believe that we didn't score with the opportunities, hitting the crossbar, the post and the saves that were made," Kenny, speaking to Sky Sports, continued.
"Matt Doherty had a header over the bar, he'd a shot wide. Aaron Connolly two efforts. Enda Stevens hit the bar and Ronan Curtis. That was just in the last half hour.
"When Enda Stevens hit the bar, that would have put us 1-0 up, a minute later, we're 1-0 down. That was difficult to take."
The Finland goal was scored by Fredrik Jensen following a poor short kickout by Darren Randolph.
"We've given a present away for the goal," said Kenny.
"That hasn't been like us. Against Slovakia and Wales, we've had two clean sheets. The defence has been really good and Darren has been really good.
"The goal itself... Some of the players have played 120 minutes, 90 minutes. It's been well documented that we've lost eight players through the Covid-related issues and some players through injury.
"There was a bit of fatigue from players playing their third game in six days, the travel to Slovakia and the travel to Finland.
"There were mitigating circumstances. The fact that we could lose eight players on the morning of the Wales game and still go and play Wales, play reasonably well and more than hold our own, speaks volumes for the players. They didn't deserve to lose in Slovakia. They were absolutely exceptional.
"There's no doubt that there are aspects that we need to improve on from tonight."
Photo by Jussi Eskola/Sportsfile
See Also: Reflective Aaron Connolly Admits Mistakes After Finland Defeat
