Stephen Kenny's sympathy lies with players who have tested positive for coronavirus rather than their clubs in the face of Jose Mourinho's displeasure over a costly international break.

The Tottenham boss was less than impressed when his full-back Matt Doherty was forced to self-isolate after he and Republic of Ireland team-mate James McClean returned positive results as the squad prepared to fly back to Dublin in the wake of Sunday's 1-0 Nations League defeat in Wales.

With Spurs striker Son Heung-min in quarantine in an Austrian hotel after six of his South Korea team-mates tested positive, Mourinho posted a sarcastic Instagram message on Monday in which he said: "Amazing week of football. Great emotions in the national team matches, superb friendlies and total safety."

Ireland are yet to win in seven games under Kenny and have not scored in the last six, but he remains confident there are reasons to be optimistic for the future.

He said: "We've come in for a bit of criticism, and that's fair enough. That's part of the territory when you don't win games, I accept that.

"But we're building a squad of players that will be available for the World Cup qualifiers in March."