Alan Browne: I was gutted but it's a privilege to take a penalty for Ireland

ALAN Browne has insisted he would rather have missed in the penalty shoot-out which cost the Republic of Ireland their Euro 2020 dream than see one of his team-mates do so.

The Preston midfielder and Tottenham full-back Matt Doherty both failed to convert their spot-kicks as the Republic went down 4-2 on penalties in Slovakia on Thursday night at the end of a tense play-off semi-final.

Browne said: "It's disappointing. I'm as gutted about it as anyone else is, but I accepted the responsibility and it's a privilege to have that pressure.

"Unfortunately it didn't go in, it wasn't meant to be, but I'd rather miss it than see one of my team-mates miss it.

"Obviously we would have liked to have won, but it just didn't seem to be our night. We just couldn't get that goal and then they nicked it in the end when it went to pens.

"I won't dwell on it too much, but it's a massive disappointment."

David McGoldrick is out of the Republic of Ireland's Nations League fixtures against Wales and Finland through injury.

The Sheffield United striker suffered an abductor injury during Thursday night's Euro 2020 play-offs shoot-out defeat in Slovakia and will play no part in Sunday's clash with the Welsh in Dublin and Wednesday's trip to Helsinki.

Manager Stephen Kenny, who has already lost frontmen Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah under coronavirus protocols, said: "David McGoldrick is out of this game with an abductor muscle injury that's going to rule him out of the two games against Wales and Finland."

Kenny also revealed he will make a late decision on Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy, who went down clutching his thigh on Thursday.

He said: "James McCarthy is not too bad, but we'll have to wait and see how he is in relation to the proximity of the game tomorrow, so he's doubtful. But he hasn't suffered any tear or anything like that. The scan has been OK, there's good news on his scan."

Kenny also confirmed that Connolly would have started in Bratislava after an appeal for him and Idah to be allowed to play having travelled to Slovakia in close contact with a member of staff who later tested positive for Covid-19 was rejected.

The manager said: "There's no doubt that it was hugely disappointing, hugely disappointing. We're very, very disappointed about that.

"Aaron was selected in the team and Adam would have been a good attacking option for us as well, and to find out on the matchday, and then a bit of a saga because the possibility existed of an appeal and so forth in the situation, it wasn't good preparation on the matchday because we were having discussions about it and impact of it rather than the match itself.

"But listen, there's nothing we can do about it. The players were excellent on the night. There were no guarantees if we had the two players."