Heimir Hallgrimsson always expected the Republic of Ireland to "run out of gas" against Austria, as he put their 2-2 Nations League draw down to physical and mental fatigue.
Hallgrimsson says physical and mental fatigue saw Ireland 'run out of gas' against Austria
The Republic of Ireland squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Austria, which Heimir Hallgrimsson blamed on physical and mental tiredness.
Ireland stormed into a 2-0 lead in their third match in Nations League Group B3, as they attempted to build on last Sunday's 3-0 victory over Israel.
Troy Parrott scored both of Ireland's goals in Dublin, with his first being an incredible solo effort in which he skipped past two defenders before slotting past Florian Wiegele.
Parrot's second was a penalty late in the first half, which came after the game had twice been halted due to protests related to Ireland's upcoming reverse fixture against Israel.
And Hallgrimsson felt the mental toll of the debate surrounding that game – which will take place on Sunday on neutral ground in Belgrade – played a part in Ireland's second-half collapse.
Liam Kitching's error allowed Alexander Prass to pull a goal back for Austria in the 71st minute, and shortly afterwards, fellow substitute Michael Gregoritsch curled a free-kick past Caoimhin Kelleher to equalise, with Austria remaining top of the group on seven points from three games.
"Obviously we were happy to be 2-0 up at half-time," Hallgrimsson told RTE Sport afterwards.
"We knew, and I told you before the game, that this team is high energy; and we knew that we needed to do some rotation and make changes.
"I felt like we just lost organisation, probably due to tiredness, and then you start to make mistakes.
"That was something that we were obviously not happy with, but the first half was good, the organisation was good, we know we can do this.
"I expected us to run out of gas at some point, but maybe not so quickly. This week has not only been physically difficult, but it's been mentally difficult and that takes a lot of energy as well."
Parrott's brace took him to nine goals in his last six competitive outings for Ireland, while his four braces for his country are the most any player has ever scored for them while aged under 25, surpassing Robbie Keane's three.
Prass scored Austria's first goal just 208 seconds after coming off the bench, opening his international account on his 23rd senior cap, while Gregoritsch has now netted 25 times for Thursday's visitors, becoming the 11th Austrian to hit that figure.
Ireland have four points on the board ahead of their return fixture against Israel, who are bottom after earning their first point in a goalless draw with Kosovo on Thursday.
