Wales manager Chris Coleman lavished praise on Martin O'Neill in the wake of the Euro 2016 finals draw and backed the Republic of Ireland to shine in France.
Ireland were placed in Group E with Sweden, Belgium and Italy, and face a huge challenge to make the knock-out stages.
Wales were also handed a daunting assignment, facing Russia, Slovakia and most intriguingly, neighbours England, but Coleman insisted his team will travel with no fear - and is confident that in O'Neill, Ireland have the perfect man to give them every chance of making an impact as well.
"I think Martin O’Neill has done such a great job with this Ireland team, to get them through," Coleman told RTÉ Sport after the draw in Paris.
"Ireland have had some great teams down the years and, like everybody, sometimes you have a good spell or a bad spell, it goes in cycles.
"For Martin to get this team qualified, he’s done a great job. You seen the way the Republic played against Germany and Bosnia. I know all about Bosnia, they’re a good team, and Ireland were fantastic. They’ve a great team spirit and we all know about their supporters. Ireland will be okay."
Coleman, whose team beat Belgium en route to qualification, said he will relish the chance to take on old rivals England in what should be a pulsating encounter.
“You're always going to play one of the top boys sooner or later and we’ve got that in England, they’re a top team with a manager, Roy Hodgson, who has a wealth of experience.
"I'm looking forward to pitting my wits against him. That’ll be a great game. I think they’ll know as well that we’ve got a very good team ourselves. We’re looking forward to that. We’re there, we’ve got to compete, we’ve got to get out of the group by hook or by crook. We’ve got to do our nation proud."
