Keith Andrews has warned his Euro 2012 Group C rivals that the Republic of Ireland will not just be making up the numbers in Poland and Ukraine.
Giovanni Trapattoni's side are many pundit's favourites to finish bottom of a group featuring World and European champions Spain, as well as Italy and Croatia.
When asked if Ireland can spring a surprise to qualify for the quarter-finals, a defiant Andrews responded: "Of course we can."
"We are not going there for the craic," he added. "We will leave that to the fans. They are there to enjoy themselves. We will enjoy ourselves by doing things right.
"We have done part of the job by qualifying. If we were going there to make up numbers, we might have well just left it at the play-off in Estonia.
"We are going there full of confidence. We have qualified from a tough group and came through a tough qualifier. We are certainly going there to come out of that group."
Andrews accepts that Ireland will be underdogs, but feels that they perform better when there is less expected of them.
He cites the squad's togetherness and Trapattoni's "meticulous preparations" as reasons why they are capable of causing an upset.
The midfielder said: "Traditionally we are (the underdogs) and we probably do better being the underdogs.
"In this tournament we certainly will be tagged as that. We often live up to it and we're hoping in June that we can carry it off.
"Nothing is going to change. We are not going to be throwing anything different into training. I can't envisage any new formations or new systems.
"We are a group that has been together for a good few years now and remain the same nucleus of players. We are all fully aware of our jobs, strengths and weaknesses. We tend to stick to those for the majority of games and in the main it has brought us success.
"We are well-versed in the strengths and weaknesses of the teams. We set up in a fashion that everybody is accustomed to now and we go out there and try to play the game to our strengths."
Like many of his international team-mates, Andrews has fond memories of Ireland's participation in previous international tournaments.
He was a 13-year-old fan at the 1994 World Cup in the United States and is keen this time around to play a role in creating the "euphoria it gives the whole country".
He said: "No matter what age group it is, everybody has something to look forward to. Whether it is a kid out kicking a ball around the street or the dads and uncles down the pub having a bit of craic.
"The whole country comes to a standstill and it's at times like this that you are very proud to be Irish.
"We are a very patriotic nation. I have come across a lot of nationalities, especially in my time playing football, and I haven't come across a more patriotic nation."
