Stephen Kenny stressed that he was not feeling under pressure despite losing two games in a row to kick-off the Nations League campaign.
The Ireland manager had the greatest intentions of topping the League B group in order to gain promotion to the top tier, however, early defeats to Armenia away and at home to Ukraine have turned ambition to aspiration.
Game three of the competition sees Ireland entertain Scotland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday and the Ireland manager will be anxious to get some points on the board in order to have something to show at the half-way stage of the six-match campaign.
"No, I don't feel pressure," said Kenny, speaking at the pre-match press conference. "Only internal, and professional pride. Certainly, I feel disappointed with that, that we don’t have points on the board."
The four-fixture end-of-season international window is already taking its toll on the Ireland squad as John Egan has joined Seamus Coleman on the injured list.
Three of the initial 27-man squad have now been declared unavailable for Saturday’s game as Gavin Bazunu had already returned to his club for treatment on a small fracture of the ribs.
Captain Coleman has now left the squad and will not be available for the away Ukraine game in Lodz on Tuesday, while Egan is nursing an ankle injury.
And the Ireland manager admitted the schedule, which also involved a long-haul return journey to Yerevan to play Armenia, is having a physical effect on the squad, accepting that he would have to change things around for game number three.
Kenny named nine of the same side who lost the opener in Armenia for the Ukraine game on Tuesday, and now with two defeats in a row, the manager said that he would have to freshen things up for the Lansdowne Road encounter.
"Séamus Coleman has been ruled out. He’s obviously come in with the groin injury that he had at the end of the season, so he’s been ruled out, has left the camp and is out of the games.
"John Egan has been ruled out [of the Scotland game] as well with an ankle injury. And we’ve one or two late fitness tests on one or two players but, hopefully, everyone else will be OK.
"We definitely do [need to freshen things up]," added the manager.
"It was such an open game the other night. The physical data was extremely high, the demands on the players of both teams."
Following the Ukraine game, the manager said that he could not fault the effort of the players, however, he added that he felt that the team proved a little impatient in their build-up, which had a negative effect on the attacking aspect.
Kenny said that he is still committed to playing the same way but would have to make tactical adjustments ahead of the visit of near-neighbours Scotland.
"There is a difference between tactics and style of play," said Kenny.
"The style of play won’t change, we are committed to that regardless. Tactically, we always have to adapt. That is a different question.
"I thought in the game against Ukraine, I felt every player gave absolutely everything of themselves, every ounce of themselves.
"OK, we could have maybe made better opportunities in the final third when we broke three versus three a few times or four v four, and we didn't quite get the right pass or we couldn’t create the chances that we wanted to create."
Naturally, on the eve of a big game, the manager was not going to elaborate on his tactics for the visit of Scotland, but challenged the players coming into the team to make a name for themselves in the absence of some of the regular starting XI.
"We just have to get ourselves ready, there’s changes in the team," said Kenny, when asked how he plans to change things for Saturday’s game.
"Players who are regulars, Séamus Coleman, John Egan, Matt Doherty are missing and there are opportunities for other players to come in and make their claim.
"The atmosphere in the team is always good, there’s a good attitude, but we are disappointed we haven’t got any points.
"We have lost two games without hardly conceding a chance in the two games and I think the back three were really on top of their opponents.
"With the three-day turnaround you’re not doing an awful lot of work in two days. We have fresh legs and we have other players who are willing to come in and make their mark, and that is the nature of it.
"We have some players who are fresh and ready to go, we want that freshness to come into the team and give us energy. That’s what we want.
"Scotland have been on a great run of results apart from their game against Ukraine. They have a strong squad.
"From our point of view it’s a full house and we want to go and try to win the game.
"We are at home with a passionate crowd, we want to be positive in our approach and we just want to get better in the final third than we have been."
