Kevin Doyle believes the summer ahead will taste so much sweeter after two wins in 5 days.

Reading striker Doyle struck his first goal since New Year's Day to give Ireland a 1-0 victory over Slovakia in last night's European Championship qualifier at Croke Park.

It was Ireland's fourth successive victory in Group D, and means a previously under-pressure Staunton has job security through to the end of the current campaign.

A more enterprising performance certainly aided the manager's cause, with Doyle striking in the 12th minute with a downward header to firmly put behind him a two-month lay-off with a torn hamstring.

'We said we needed two wins and we've gone and done it, which keeps us in the hunt for qualifying,' beamed Doyle.

'This was certainly a better performance than against Wales on Saturday. I thought we played well and deserved to win.

'It was good to be playing in a team where everyone was enjoying it, and it feels good to head into the summer with a nice taste in our mouths.'

But, having resurrected Ireland's qualifying hopes, Doyle knows the job is only half done, adding: 'We said we needed two wins, but that doesn't mean we stop now.

'We need to keep going, and that's the next challenge. We're not stupid. We know it's going to be tough.

'But if we play like we did last night then we should be able to get something out of it.'

At least when the campaign resumes in September, with a double-header in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the focus will be on the matches and not Staunton's future.

Not that the criticism affected Doyle in any way as he said: 'When you are playing for your country in front of a full house and things are going well, I don't need to be spurred on.

'I think it was the same for the rest of the lads. They just wanted to go out and do well, and that's what we did.

'But the recent criticism has certainly been unjustified because all you can do is win, and that's four wins in a row now.

'You can't do any more than win the games.'

Doyle is looking forward to seeing his winning goal again too, as he missed it crossing the line when nodding home Damien Duff's free-kick into the near post.

'I couldn't have asked for anything more personally - to score in front of 70-odd thousand people, and for it to be the winning goal is a great feeling,' said Doyle.

'It's hard to explain how good it is when that ball hits the back of the net, although I didn't actually see it go in.

'I was on the ground, but then I heard this roar. I was delighted.'