Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has admitted that his side were fortunate to beat Kazakhstan in their World Cup qualifying opener tonight.

Late goals from Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle snatched Ireland a 2-1 victory, which looked very unlikely when they entered the 89th minute trailing their lowly-ranked opponents.

Trapattoni has confessed that they were lucky to avoid defeat and has highlighted Ireland's failure to respond to going behind as the main reason behind their poor performance.

He said: "I think it's honest to say that we have been a little bit lucky in this game.

"I think we had a psychological block after we conceded because usually we have a good reaction when that happens but we didn't."

Ireland's next match is a home friendly against Oman on Tuesday.