King feels positive after Norway draw

Ireland Under-21 manager Noel King feels his side are well positioned in the group after Thursday's European Championship qualifier draw with Norway.

Ireland remain top of Group 5 after a goalless draw at Tallaght Stadium with Leif Gunnar Smerud's side, who won the bronze medal at the 2013 European Championships. 

The Irish are unbeaten in the group, with the draw against Norway following a 1-0 home win over Kosovo in March and a 3-1 victory in Azerbaijan in September.

"Norway have played four games and have two points, while we have played three games and we have seven points. And they are two seeds ahead of us," King told eir Sport.

"It was a good performance, Norway are a tough side who caused us a few problems but we caused them a few problems.

"Either side may feel that they might have won it. We had chances near the end, while they had their chances earlier.

"Overall, I thought we battled hard, defended well and showed some quite good skill and talent throughout the game."

King expects an equally tough game against Israel at Tallaght Stadium on Monday, a match that will also be shown live on eir Sport 1 [kick off 3.30pm].

"Israel pose a different threat. They are not as physical as Norway but they certainly have some technical players.

"We will do our very best to win the game, as we always do.

"We defend when we have to defend, we play when we play. There's no magic there - that's football."

Ireland skipper Josh Cullen feels the draw was "a good point" against a physical Norway side, but the 21-year-old warns that there is still a long way to go in the qualifying campaign.

"It was a tough game, but we knew they were going to be a tough opposition," the West Ham midfielder said.

"We knew we had to be on our game defensively and keep it tight, and we had a couple of chances in the second half.

"We are in there looking on it as a good point.

"But we are not getting too carried away with ourselves. We have another tough game coming up against Israel on Monday.

"It has been a good start to the campaign, but we will regroup and go again."

The Republic of Ireland's Under-21 European Qualifier Group 5 qualifier against Israel at Tallaght Stadium on Monday, 9 October will be shown live on eir Sport 1 from 3.25pm [KO 3.30pm].

Photo Inpho/ Tommy Dickson

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