Ireland 1 Austria 1: Ireland player ratings

Ruaidhrí Croke runs the rule over Martin O’Neill and his team after a salvaged point

Ireland’s Shane Duffy  in action during the  World Cup qualifier against  Austria. Photograph: Aidan Crawley/EPA
Ireland’s Shane Duffy in action during the World Cup qualifier against Austria. Photograph: Aidan Crawley/EPA

23. Darren Randolph: After a shaky performance against Uruguay, he redeemed himself on Sunday. Couldn't do anything for Austria's excellent goal but kept Ireland in the game with a superb late save from Grillitsch. Rating: 7.

2. Cyrus Christie: Received a needless booking after Austria's goal for a frustrated late tackle. Got forward a few times and delivered some good crosses, but no-one was on the end of them. Rating: 6.

18. Kevin Long: An assured competitive debut. Settled early with a towering clearing header and looked comfortable. Very unlucky not to notch an equaliser when his header was cleared off the line. Rating: 7.

20. Shane Duffy: Once again showed that he is one of Ireland's best attacking threats at set pieces. Right call for his goal to be disallowed, but he's quickly becoming Ireland's best centre half. Rating: 8.

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17. Stephen Ward: Not a great outing for the full back. Nearly caused big trouble in the first half with a suicidal volleyed pass across the pitch 30 yards from goal. Lost his man for the goal and came off after 56 minutes. Rating: 4.

10: Robbie Brady: Far from his usual quality. Gave away the free-kick which led to the corner for Austria's goal, although he did deliver assist for the equaliser which did look to be a pass rather than an aimless hoof. Rating: 6.

6. Glenn Whelan: Bit of a strange choice for captain. Didn't do much wrong but didn't do much either way. Alaba was given far too much space in central midfield a number of times when Whelan got caught forward. Rating: 6.

13. Jeff Hendrick: Went missing completely starting in the hole behind Walters. Didn't improve too much when he moved out wide and altogether had one of his much poorer performances in green. Rating: 5.

Hendrick wins a header ahead of Zlatko Junuzovic. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Hendrick wins a header ahead of Zlatko Junuzovic. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

22. Harry Arter: Took a while to get involved but when he did he was good. Sat deep and allowed Whelan to go forward and probably should have stayed on. Rating: 7.

11. James McClean: Can always be relied on to give it his all and this was no different. Moved between the lines and caused Austria's defence problems with his powerful forward runs. Rating: 7.

19. Jonathan Walters: A brilliant take and an even better finish for the equaliser. Should have been captain from the start and was deservedly man-of-the match given how well he did when up front on his own. Rating: 8.

Walters volleys home the equaliser. Photo: Niall Carson/PA
Walters volleys home the equaliser. Photo: Niall Carson/PA

Substitutes: Daryl Murphy made a difference with his physicality. Wes Hoolahan should have started and almost created a goal with his first touch but Aiden McGeady had little impact coming on so late. Rating: 7.

Manager: Not starting Hoolahan at home to a side Ireland have already beaten was a poor decision. After starting with 4-5-1, he quickly switched to 4-4-2 after the Austria goal but opted against creativity from the start. Rating: 4.