Goalscorer Shane Long was "disappointed" Ireland didn't win last night's Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland, and says a change of formation shortly before half-time made all the difference before his late equaliser at the Aviva Stadium.

Martin O'Neill's men went behind to a fine Slawomir Peszko strike in the first half, during which Ireland failed to put any sort of fluency together save for a short spell before the break.

But the Boys In Green were transformed after the interval, and put Poland under a mountain pressure before the visitors eventually broke in stoppage time - Long pouncing on a knock-down from Wes Hoolahan.

Last 15 minutes is proof that we have players who can play. That are as technically good as anything Poland and Scotland have to offer.

— David McIntyre (@DaveMcIntyreNT) March 29, 2015

"I think it was the last ten minutes of the first half," Long told Newstalk's Nathan Murphy after the game, "you know, we weren't really in the game.

"The gaffer changed the formation a bit; put Jonny Walters up front and moved Wes out to the wing and swapped Aiden [McGeady] out to the other side - kind of got us into the game."

Listen to Shane Long with Nathan Murphy here:
The Southampton star continued: "We started passing the ball around. Wes was dropping in and causing them problems. We kind of felt it at half-time, the gaffer got us going. The whole second half was a different game - we were right on the front foot.

"I think the change of formation ten minutes before half-time made a big difference."

Poles really played at home... ;-) #IREVPOL pic.twitter.com/1OXg9pA1Sk

— PolishEmbassyDublin (@PLinIreland) March 29, 2015