Hallgrimsson job fear as he takes blame for loss

Hallgrimsson's side have just one point from their first two Group F qualifiers

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has accepted responsibility for the shock 2-1 defeat by Armenia in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Yerevan and is candid about the fact his position will now come under scrutiny.

The hugely underwhelming performance against a team ranked 105 in the world followed a 2-2 draw against Hungary in their opening game.

It has left the Republic bottom of Group F on one point and facing an uphill struggle to qualify for next year's finals.

Eduard Spertsyan's penalty put Armenia ahead in first-half stoppage time and Grant-Leon Ranos doubled the advantage on 51 minutes, with Evan Ferguson pulling a goal back six minutes later.

Next up for the Republic is a daunting trip to Group F leaders Portugal on 11 October, with the Armenia return three days later.

"Of course, I take the blame for this, but the players are the same players we were happy with against Bulgaria and in the second half against Hungary," Hallgrimsson told RTE.

"I will take the blame, the players need support, and we need to encourage them. They are going back to their clubs and hopefully they come back in four weeks' time ready for the next challenge.

"It is an off day, and we have to look inside and see what we can do differently."

The Republic boss is under contract until the end of the qualifying campaign but acknowledged this display will raise questions about his future.

"The job of the coach, if they are not producing, then of course it is always a question," added the 58-year-old.

"I am not naive, it is understandable now and after this performance.

"Everything needs to be perfect from now on and after this, it is difficult to be optimistic that we will go to Portugal and win those games with a performance like that."

'A lot more negatives than positives'

Republic of Ireland players Mikey Johnston and Finn Azaz look dejected after the match

Asked what went wrong in Armenia, the former Jamaica manager said "almost everything".

"We were not as solid defending like we normally are, we lost a lot of duels, in possession we made lots of mistakes and lost the ball in tough areas.

"Armenia can be quick on the counter and they have good individuals with good individual skills, and they deservedly won.

"There are a lot more negatives than positives, that is for sure. We are hugely disappointed."

Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Hallgrimsson introduced Adam Idah and Kasey McAteer off the bench in place of Jack Taylor and Chiedozie Ogbene.

"We wanted to change it tactically, we thought we needed a goal early so we wanted two strikers and that was successful three days ago so that was one of the reasons we did this change," he explained.

"Also [we wanted] fresh legs, but the substitutions are on me, of course."

On failing to potentially involve star striker Ferguson sufficiently, the Republic boss added: "We didn't create a lot of chances. It is not about him or how we can involve him. The whole team were not on it and it was Armenia's day, not ours."

Captain Nathan Collins also told RTE the better team won and reflected on his team's shortcomings.

"I probably do think they were the better team, which is nowhere near where our standards should be," said the defender.

"We didn't create enough. It probably wasn't defensively strong enough and overall, just wasn't a good enough performance.

"We have to beat Portugal, that's the be all and end all. We have to go there and get a result and that's all I can say."