Shane Duffy gave Ireland manager Stephen Kenny a passionate backing after the Boys in Green held Portugal scoreless in a draw at a full Aviva Stadium.

Kenny's contract is up next summer and Duffy says that the recent run of form from Ireland shows that the players are fully behind the manager.

"The fans are excited, for me, it's obvious that we love playing for him, we are all fighting for him, that's the sign that the players want to play for the manager, if you went into that dressing room," added Duffy.

"I think Stephen's brilliant, he had a tough start, Covid, players dropping out, not getting results. It's building confidence, we knew what the manager wanted to do, to build for the future, not just now. We have seen that as players, we want results, we haven't been getting them, but we can start getting them now.

"If you don't think we're going in a positive way, you're writing the wrong stuff. For me, I think it's obvious we love playing under Stephen and we're all fighting for him.

Duffy also urged Ireland to kick on and end the qualifying campaign with a win over Luxembourg on Sunday.

"That's the first thing the manager said after," Duffy said after the game, where he won his 50th cap.

"We all know the disappointments at the start of the group, we didn't perform well enough but we want to finish the group as strong as we can, going to Luxembourg to win is the aim and that's what we want to do.

"In the last four/five games we have taken a step forward, the team has grown in confidence against one of the best teams in the world, we didn't fear them, that's a sign of the confidence in the way we are playing and it's disappointing we didn't get the ball into the back of the net," added Duffy, who said that the lack of celebration in the Irish dressing room after holding Portugal scoreless, was a sign of progress in the squad's mentality.

"It wasn't ecstatic, the music wasn't blaring and that shows how far we have come."

Meanwhile, Stephen Kenny hailed his defence as being of "Champions League level" after their effort against Portugal.

"The back three were absolutely excellent, Callum Robinson got man of the match but I'd have given it to Shane Duffy," said Kenny, who admits he has a lot to consider before he picks a side to face Luxembourg on Sunday.

"That was the best I have seen him play, the quality of his passing, he was always good at defending, but the whole back three, Seamus Coleman and John Egan, were collectively excellent, Seamus defended really, really well. We are getting better as a team and everyone is playing their part.

"Defensively we are really strong, three clean sheets in the last three games. In my opinion John Egan could play in the Champions League, I think he should be playing in the Champions League.

"Of course we want to go to Luxembourg and win but it's about tonight," added Kenny.