Republic of Ireland midfielder Conor Hourihane believes the "best is yet to come" under new manager Stephen Kenny but insists the team are able to win ugly in order to get the results they need.

The Kenny era began with a 1-1 draw at Bulgaria in the Nations League and Ireland will host Finland at an empty Aviva Stadium on Sunday evening, in a game you can hear live on Off The Ball with Stuey Byrne alongside Nathan Murphy on commentary.

Ireland had almost 60% possession in Sofia last night but Hourihane says while they're moving toward a style based around keeping the ball, they're also willing to grind out results when required.

“Listen, we're in a results business and we all want to win and we all want to get good results first and foremost," the Villa midfielder told an online press conference.

“You simply have to win and win ugly at times – that would be absolutely fine as well. But if we can win and play well at the same time, that's the thing everyone strives for.

“If it was an easy game, we'd all be winning and we'd all be playing great every single week. We just try to take the manager's ideas on board as much as possible.

“He's given us a lot of info to try and take on board over the last three or four days...fantastic info. It's going to take a little bit of time. We only got three or four days before the first game and then all of a sudden, we're onto the next game.

“I'm sure over the coming months, there'll be improvements and we'll get better, but hopefully now heading into Sunday we'll get another good performance.

“It’s a new style, new era, new playing style by the looks of the other night, which is great, so it’s a very exciting time."