Martin O'Neill said Seamus Coleman looks like he was born to captain his country as he showered praise on the Donegal defender.
Coleman took the armband for the Euro 2016 last-16 clash with France and inherited it permanently after Robbie Keane finally walked from international football last month.
He provided the crucial breakthrough against Georgia at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday, and O'Neill has been hugely impressed with how he's shouldered the responsibility.
"Seamus has taken up the mantle of captaincy as if he was born to it," said the manager ahead of Sunday night's World Cup qualifier in Moldova.
When he took the captaincy in France, he was brilliant.
"He is a quiet enough lad in many aspects but he has been terrific on the pitch. But he was terrific on the pitch before he took the captaincy, you could still hear him. I thought it was a natural progression.
"He has earned the right and when he took the captaincy in France, he was brilliant."
Coleman himself made no bones about the below-par nature of the display against Georgia, but stressed that nothing comes easy on the international stage.
“The manager let us know it wasn’t good enough at half-time but as players in there ourselves we knew it was nowhere near good enough," the 27-year-old said.
"We were lucky to come in without conceding a goal. We came out in the second half and were better and we created some more chances. We knew as individuals that it wasn’t good enough at half-time.
“Ideally we’d like to win games comfortably but at international level you’ve got to earn the right to play initially."
Seamus Coleman talks up the team spirit in the Irish camp #RTEsocer https://t.co/OFdQKLewyf
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) October 8, 2016
Ireland travel to Chisinau without a string of key players but they'll still be expected to return with another victory.
Coleman talked up the qualities Moldova will bring to the table but insisted his own team have the resilience and togetherness to come through Sunday's test, no matter what it throws up.
"We watched little bits on this team," Coleman added. "They press well, they work hard so we’ve go to earn that right to play.
"We’ve got a good group of lads in there who are together. I know for 90 minutes, whether it’s going good or bad, that we’ll be in the game and that we’ll help each other.
"It’s all about getting three points at the end of the day."
