Martin O'Neill admitted the Republic of Ireland have to beat group leaders Serbia to get their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track after surviving a major scare in Georgia.
Ireland who started the day level on points with the Serbs at the top of Group D, ended it two adrift after having to make do with a 1-1 draw in Tbilisi despite taking a fourth-minute lead.
Serbia visit Dublin next Tuesday in what O'Neill has termed a must-win game.
"Yes, Serbia won and it will have to be a phenomenal effort to beat them on Tuesday. That's what we have to do," he said.
"We have to obviously play better and give the Serbians less room to play than we gave the Georgians tonight, particularly in the first-half. We'll have to be really, really at our best to win the game - but we can do that."
O'Neill also insisted there was no quick fix to Ireland's problems at keeping possession after tonight's disappointing draw with Georgia in Tbilisi.
He acknowledged that Ireland played poorly in the first half and didn't use the ball well when they did get hold of it.
"I don't think there's a quick fix to it. We have to try and do better on the ball. We have one or two very decent players who probably didn't play well tonight.
"I don't think there is a quick fix" - Martin O'Neill tells @CorkTOD how Ireland will focus on Serbia #RTEsoccer #GEOIRL pic.twitter.com/utsNa5LQ9D
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 2, 2017
O'Neill said the team's sole focus was on beating Serbia on Tuesday, a side who he said are probably technically superior to Ireland.
"D'you know what we're going to try and do? We're going to try and win a game against Serbia which is the most important thing. We're going to put heart and soul into the match on Tuesday night.
And we're going to try and beat a side who are probably technically better than us. That's what we're going to try and do."
