Trapattoni refuses to blame Kilbane

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Ireland were leading Bulgaria 1-0 at Croke Park and had a top-two finish in Group Eight within their grasp when Kilbane, winning his 94th senior cap, unwittingly diverted Stiliyan Petrov's driven cross into his own net.

However, asked if Kilbane could have done better, Trapattoni said: "I don't blame Kilbane for what happened. It was an accident."

He added: "He did not have time to react. He was trying to stop the ball, but there was not much that he could do."

The equaliser came as a massive blow to Ireland, who got off to the perfect start when defender Richard Dunne headed John O'Shea's flick-on past keeper Dimitar Invankov with just 40 seconds gone.

Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle both missed good chances in a frantic conclusion, and Trapattoni later admitted a lack of calmness in front of goal had cost his side.

He said: "With a little bit of calm in front of the goalkeeper, we could have scored a goal.

"Doyle had a header in the last minute - okay, he was tired - and Robbie, we had two players in the middle and he shot for goal.

"We were anxious in that situation. We could have scored a goal if we had been calm.

"We need to stay calm in those situations."