Stephen Kenny: Republic of Ireland boss insists his reign will prove a success

Stephen Kenny's side suffered another defeat against Wales in Cardiff on Sunday

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has vowed his reign will be a "success" despite the five defeats in his opening seven games in charge.

David Brooks' second-half goal earned Wales a 1-0 Nations League win in Cardiff as the Irish again came away with nothing despite a promising start.

The Republic now need to avoid defeat against Bulgaria in Dublin on Wednesday to prevent Nations League relegation.

"I have no doubts I will be a success. Absolutely no doubts," said Kenny.

"We have a clear vision of what we want."

The Republic boss referred to the ravages inflicted on his squad by Covid-19 over the last two rounds of international fixtures, with West Brom striker Callum Robinson and Preston's Alan Browne the latest players to be ruled after testing positive for the virus over the past week.

'Quite unprecedented circumstances'

Brighton striker Aaron Connolly had to miss last month's Euro 2020 play-off semi-final defeat in Slovakia following a Covid-19 false positive involving a member of the FAI staff which also forced Norwich's Adam Idah out of that match.

Connolly had been selected to start in Bratislava with fellow striker Idah due to be on the bench.

It later emerged that the pair, who had moved seats on the plane, could have been involved after all following news of the false positive.

Five more players - including Robinson - were ruled out of the Republic squad on the morning of the subsequent Nations League game against Wales in Dublin after being deemed close contacts of another unnamed team member who had tested positive for Covid-19.

Last month's Republic triple-header was then capped off by another unnamed player missing the Nations League 1-0 defeat in Finland following a positive test for coronavirus.

"Between this camp and the previous camp, we have been in quite unprecedented circumstances, in modern times anyway," added Kenny.

"Nevertheless, the players have come out against a good Wales team today and put in a good performance overall.

"We probably had the better chances up to the last five minutes, when they had two on the break."

Stephen Kenny's squad are now further depleted by suspensions for Wednesday's home game against Bulgaria

Hendrick and Molumby suspended

Kenny's team's have now failed to score in six games and Shane Duffy's late equaliser in the opening Nations League draw in Bulgaria remains the only goal of the manager's seven-game reign.

Despite that, Kenny refused to be downhearted as he praised the display of Norwich striker Idah.

"One of the things that we have done is given players an opportunity with the World Cup qualifiers in mind, and I think Adam Idah, although he's not scoring, he's shown that he's a different type of striker than what we have had in recent history.

"He's not the finished article, nor would he claim he is, but he is someone with real potential."

Jeff Hendrick's late sending off in Cardiff means he is suspended along with Jayson Molumby for the Bulgaria game.

The duo's absence further stretches a squad already without Seamus Coleman, Enda Stevens, John Egan, James McCarthy and Troy Parrott.