Mick McCarthy:
“Things have been going great, we’ve won seven and drawn four. Everything’s been going swimmingly, but it was going to end at some stage.
“If we were going to get beaten, I’d prefer to lose after 11 games than in the first two or three. It’s been a great run, and the lads have been fabulous.
“It’s disappointing, and we didn’t want it to end today. But it’s not about today, now, because that’s finished. It’s all about the reaction for Tuesday and Saturday – that’s the most important thing.”
Michael O'Neill after his side's defeat to Middlesbrough:
“I think after (the first goal) we still tried to play. We worked hard on the system and building the game from the back but ultimately we don’t have players that can direct football – and for all the play we had, we didn’t do enough with it.
“There weren’t enough balls into the box, not enough shots, not enough opportunities created. If you don’t do that, you won’t win games, you rely on set pieces.
“A set piece was the key moment in the game, I felt, today when we went behind – and we didn’t do enough with our set pieces either.”
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