The Fulham winger saw his 38th-minute shot beaten away by keeper Jan Mucha after it had been deflected by Martin Skrtel on its way to goal.

However, that was Ireland’s only real attempt, while Shay Given had earlier had to claw out Filip Holosko’s header and save Vladimir Weiss’ well-struck shot.

Kevin Doyle won a late reprieve as the Republic of Ireland attempted to edge their way closer to qualification for the Euro 2012 finals.

The Wolves striker, skipper Robbie Keane’s usual partner, was initially left out of the starting line-up to face Slovakia in favour of Shane Long, but was reinstated after the West Brom man was sidelined by a calf strain.

There was a start too for Doyle’s club-mate Stephen Ward, who took over from Kevin Kilbane at left-back as the injured Derby defender’s run of 66 consecutive competitive appearances for his country came to an end.

Slovakia skipper Marek Hamsik was included in the starting line-up despite manager Vladimir Weiss last night rating his chances at just 50-50 because of a knee problem.

Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni's concerns over Doyle's fitness after a knee injury proved unfounded in the early stages as the striker repeatedly put central defender Martin Skrtel and full-back Peter Pekarik under pressure down the left.

But he turned up on the right with five minutes gone to lift the ball into Keane’s path, although the captain was unable to collect it and Skrtel shepherded it back to keeper Jan Mucha.

In a scrappy start to the game, the Republic enjoyed the better of the possession, but were able to create little as they repeatedly surrendered it cheaply.

But Slovakia were proving even less of a threat despite Hamsik’s best efforts to prompt the visitors from midfield, although it was they who produced the game’s first shot when defender Marek Cech blasted well wide from distance with 15 minutes played.

Keane shinned an attempted volley straight up into the air as he tried acrobatically to divert John O’Shea’s cross towards goal seconds later, but it was just not happening for the home side.

Midfielder Miroslav Stoch failed to trouble Shay Given’s goal with an 18th-minute long-range effort, but the Ireland keeper had to get his positioning right seconds later to clutch Vladimir Weiss’ well-struck shot to his midriff after he had worked his way into the penalty area.

The Slovakians were warming to their task and after safely negotiating the first 25 minutes, began to cause problems for Trapattoni’s men.

Ireland were far from having things all their own way and were looking increasingly vulnerable as the visitors tried to hit them on the counter-attack.

It took a well-timed 26th-minute challenge by Ward to prevent striker Filip Holosko from collecting Hamsik’s intelligent pass into the box, but the danger was by no means over.

Keith Andrews desperately hacked Weiss’ free-kick away from Skrtel after the ball was allowed to travel across the penalty area, and when possession was recycled, Holosko sent a header towards the bottom corner which Given had to turn away.

The Republic were caught on more than one occasion by marauding full-backs Pekarik and Cech as they got in behind opposite numbers Ward and O’Shea.

However, it was they who almost took the lead seven minutes before the break when Damien Duff and Andrews engineered a path through the Slovakia defence.

The pair exchanged passes on the edge of the box for Duff to fire in a left-foot shot which clipped Skrtel and made Mucha’s save all the more impressive.

Duff’s near miss seemed to inspire his side and they finished the half in much more positive fashion.

Ward should have done better when he was presented with a chance to send in a cross on the stroke of half-time, but he blazed the ball high over.