MARTIN O'NEILL saluted his Republic of Ireland side for fighting back to claim a 2-2 draw away to Serbia in their opening World Cup qualifier.
Substitute Daryl Murphy grabbed an 81st-minute equaliser after a Filip Kostic effort and a Dusan Tadic penalty had put the hosts in front following Jeff Hendrick's early goal: "You would have taken a point before the game started," O'Neill added.
"We fought back magnificently from conceding the second goal and absolutely deserved a point. It was good to get something out of the game and get off the mark."
The match only went ahead after a late pitch inspection following torrential rain and O'Neill added: "The pitch cut up very, very quickly and the conditions were difficult."
On Serbia's penalty, awarded for a foul on Kostic by Jonathan Walters, the manager said: "It looked soft."
O'Neill once again stressed his commitment to the Republic, even though his new contract has not yet been signed, almost three months after an agreement being announced. O'Neill, linked in reports to the Hull job, said: "They'll be no hiccups about that [the new contract].
"I've shaken hands on the deal quite some time ago."
Southampton's Tadic claimed his side were punished for not going for a third goal: "When we scored the second goal I think we dropped back too much," he said.
"I think we should have pushed a bit more and then we should win the match."
