'It's a tough one to take' – Ireland U21 boss Jim Crawford rues late ...

Crawford said his players were “on the floor” in the dressing room after the 1-1 draw in Cork, as having been seconds from a big victory, they must now travel to Italy and either beat the group leaders on Tuesday, or hope Norway drop points at home to Turkey, as Crawford’s young guns aim to make history and qualify for Slovakia 2025.

The Irish boss admits he has a big challenge on his hands now to lift his players for the final qualifier of the campaign, adding that his side won’t be relying on favours from the Scandanavians next week with their full focus on three points in Trieste.

As Seán Roughan’s 75th-minute strike looked to be the winner on Leeside, Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup levelled in the final minute but replays showed there was a clear pull on Anselmo Garcia MacNulty’s shirt seconds before the goal.

“I didn’t realise it at the beginning, but when you look at it again, it’s a free-kick. He’s pulling Anselmo’s shirt and it’s a free-kick. He didn’t give it,” said Crawford, with his side remaining second in Group A, two points ahead of third seeds Norway.

“I went to the referees at the end and they said they didn’t see it, which is what I expected from them. It is what it is. It’s cost us dearly. It has cost us in a game where they didn’t really threaten us much at all.

“When we went 1-0 up we were comfortable, but we just have to learn to see out games better. It’s not the first time. We were at home here to Italy (last minute concession last November) and we concede in injury time again.

“What I’d ask any official is ‘is that a free-kick?’ I hope the officials look back over it again and see what they think, because they said to me they looked at it back and it wasn’t a free-kick. It’s too late now. We can’t change anything but it’s a tough one to take. Norway are a good team, we understand that but I know we’re better.”

With Tuesday’s clash against top seeds Italy on the horizon next week, Crawford says his side must quickly put the heartbreak to the back of their minds and focus on three points, having been seconds from defeating the group leaders in Cork last November.

“Where that puts us now is, we have to go to Italy on Tuesday and win the game,” added the Ireland boss, who will welcome Sinclair Armstrong back from suspension for the final group clash on Tuesday.

“The biggest challenge for me is to lift the players because they’re all on the floor inside there, and understandably so, in a game where you just feel maybe there should’ve been a free-kick at the end.

“Can Turkey do us a favour over in Norway?, but we can’t control that. All we can control is what happens on Tuesday. We’ve got to go over to Italy and win. We’ve approached every game the same.

“It’s disappointing but we’ve an amazing group of players. I’ve no doubt that it’ll be a tough one to take tonight, we’ll travel to Italy on Saturday and when Tuesday comes we’ll be right.”