Giovanni Trapattoni, the Republic of Ireland coach, is confident of qualifying for the 2016 European Championship finals.

The Republic were 3-0 friendly winners over Algeria on Friday night, following on from a success over Paraguay earlier in the week.

The results - both with home advantage - gave Trapattoni every confidence of securing a place in the 2016 finals, which will be held in France.

"If we play like we did against Paraguay and Algeria, I think we must achieve qualification for the European Championship," he said.

Ireland will begin their campaign to qualify for the tournament, which will be held in Ukraine and Poland, with games against Armenia and Andorra in September. They will also face Russia, Slovakia and Macedonia in Group B.

The success over Algeria was the largest margin of victory under Trapattoni's reign.