Derry's Ireland and Manchester United midfielder, Darron Gibson, has said that he thought Ireland were unlucky not to have won against World champions Italy last Wednesday and described the 1-1 draw as "massive".
"It was a massive result for us," said Gibson. "And to be fair we probably could have won it at the end. We all knew that we needed to get something out of the game after drawing with Bulgaria last weekend in Croke Park."
The 21 year-old midfielder replaced Blackburn Rovers player, Keith Andrews in the 55th minute. He refused to take any credit for helping the team to secure a point but praised the decision-making of manager, Giovanni Trapattoni.
"A few people have said to me that I changed the game when I came on but I wouldn't want to say that myself," he said. "For most of the match we were passing the ball sideways and when Trapattoni decided to bring me on he told me to try and pass the ball forward. Obviously his decision to change things paid dividends because Robbie went on to score the equaliser."
Gibson explained that he was not close enough to comment on the controversial sending off of Italian forward Giampalo Pazzini in the opening minutes of the game.
"It was at the opposite side of the pitch from me so it was hard to see what had actually happened. It looked like his arms were up high but I don't think he meant to catch John O'Shea the way he did and I suppose the referee made a decision from what he saw afterwards with the blood coming from John's head. But to be honest I didn't really see it so I can't really say."
Having failed to take all three points at home to Bulgaria last week, Gibson admitted that the team were disappointed but he took comfort from the fact that they can strengthen their chance of either winning the group or finishing in second when both teams meet in Sofia in June.
"We were disappointed not to beat Bulgaria at the weekend and obviously the next game is massive because they have a game in hand and they are not too far behind us. The mood in the camp is good at the minute and we are looking forward to our trip to Sofia in June."
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