POZNAN, Nov 20 — Martin O'Neill insists there are many positives to take from his unbeaten start to life as Ireland manager after drawing 0-0 with Poland here in Poznan yesterday.

The scoreless draw followed last Friday night's 3-0 victory over Latvia in Dublin, and came despite seven changes to the starting line up.

Ireland created the better chances on the night, and despite their wastefulness in the final third, O'Neill was pleased by another clean sheet.

Making Ireland hard to beat was one of the first challenges O'Neill's predecessor Giovanni Trapattoni faced, and the former Celtic boss is happy to follow in his footsteps.

“International football is like that, teams are not running away with games,” he said, “so it would be nice to be hard to beat as if you are, you feel you have the ability to create something.

“Look at Aiden McGeady in the final third, he has terrific feet and is a genuine danger.

“He wants to think he can dribble in any position of the park and in last 30 yards he is really terrific.

“So, with that, you have to look at a clean sheet positively.

“There will be times when we can deal with possession better but the level of opposition tonight was not in question.

“We came away from home and it's a good result for us in that sense. There's lots to improve on.”

The scoreless draw was achieved without a handful of regular starters, with skipper Robbie Keane an unused sub, and six other changes made to the team that started last Friday night.

With a poor surface and a partisan, if welcoming, crowd also against them, Ireland's squad proved its worth.

“It was always going to be tough tonight and I hadn't realised I made that many changes, until it was pointed out,” O'Neill said.

“But getting players into the fold and feeling they are part of it is all part of the job.

“We started well and we looked to get it down to play and cause them problems.

“In the last 10 minutes of the first half, we became ragged, lost shape and gave the ball away needlessly.

“But there are load of things for me to take positives form. That was my main intention and it was genuinely a pleasure for myself and Roy.

“We wanted to make sure we weren't beaten so they are still important to us, it was not the most fantastic spectacle but we can improve.”

Stoke City's Jon Walters was given the armband in place of the rested Keane, and O'Neill revealed he wanted to reward the 30-year-old, who was left on the bench against Latvia.

“I mentioned the enthusiasm players have shown and I thought he epitomised that,” O'Neill said.

“He didn't play in the game on Friday and I said he would on Tuesday. I think he was surprised but he enjoyed it.”— AFP