Miller to miss remaining friendlies

International news: The Republic of Ireland will be without Celtic midfielder Liam Miller for the remaining two of their four end-of-season friendlies.

The 23-year-old left the squad's south London base over the weekend in order to receive treatment on a persistent groin problem that may yet require surgery over the coming week.

Having played well on Thursday night against Romania, Miller was clearly struggling during Saturday's defeat by Nigeria.

Brian Kerr acknowledged after the game that the ongoing injury had contributed to the player's below-par showing and said that it was best that he get the problem sorted out rather than stay on for this week's games against Jamaica and the Netherlands.

The mood amongst the players was subdued in the immediate aftermath of their mauling at the hands of the Nigerians and team captain Kenny Cunningham admitted that it was a terribly poor display.

"You prepare as best you can in the circumstances but from early on in the first half you got the sense that we were a bit off the pace, a bit all over the place," he said.

"We didn't ask too many questions of them in the first half but I do think you can put at least some of what went wrong down to the fact that we'd put so much into winning the game on Thursday night."

"They were a little awkward to play against," he continued. "They played a 4-4-2 but it was a very loose formation and it was difficult at times to keep track of all the movement.

"But I wasn't surprised by them really, they were as good as I'd expected them to be. Overall they were the better side and deserved the win. Collectively and individually we could have done better. We have a few days to sort ourselves out now before Wednesday and hopefully we will do better then."

Cunningham had turned in one of the side's better displays during the first half but after the break he looked out of sorts as anyone around him and on another day might have prevented both of Nigeria's goals during the period.

For one he seemed to stand off Africa's young player of the year, Obafemi Martin, for far too long as the striker moved to within shooting range of Nicky Colgan's net.

For the other he was involved in the mix-up with the goalkeeper that allowed Martin to get between the pair of them and push the ball to Bartholomew Ogbeche who was able the tap home into an open goal.

"The ball sort of came to me over my shoulder," explained Cunningham when asked about the incident with Colgan, "and I didn't realise that he was as close to me as he was. In fairness, I just have to accept my fair share of the blame."

He was also, however, taken with Martins' display. "I've seen him play before and I was very impressed by him. He's a very exciting player, young but very strong. Technically he's very good, he's quick and he has a very low centre of gravity. As soon as he gets the ball he's looking to run right down your throat."

Overall, he said, there would still be some benefits from the game even if it didn't quite feel that way as the players made their way of of Charlton's ground.

"I suppose the positive side of it was that a few of the younger lads got caps," he said. "I thought Alan Lee did very well and Clive Clarke had a good second half. Hopefully a few more will get their opportunity on Wednesday."