Jayson Molumby, with his Duracell bunny energy and appetite for hard work, has the capacity to set the tone for the Republic of Ireland against France on Monday.
But by his own admission, the Waterford man will need to harness his running power to avoid chasing shadows.
The likes of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni could anchor France in the middle of the park at the Aviva Stadium, embellished by the creative brilliance of Antoine Griezmann.
Their technical excellence means committed pressing must be married with smart thinking or else Molumby and the rest of his Irish team-mates will spend the bulk of the evening out of possession; not ideal against a team so loaded with attacking weapons.
It's something that 23-year-old Molumby is very aware of. He's had a fine campaign in the Championship with West Brom but Carlos Corberan's decision to take him off with less than an hour gone against Wigan earlier this month was telling.
"We understand that [Nathaniel] Chalobah could give us more stability with the ball and more calm with the ball, to help better the team to counter their game," the Baggies boss said. "That's why we did the change."
Control is the name of the game, and Molumby is taking it on board.
"He's been fantastic for us and the football club," Molumby said of Corberan, who has revitalised West Brom since taking over from Steve Bruce last October.
"Obviously he likes players with intensity and high energy. He's taught me way more about understanding the game and maybe adding different elements to my game.
"I’ve been getting into the box a lot more, getting a couple more assists, a goal here and there. I should probably have a few more goals this season from the areas I’ve been getting into so for me that’s been really good and I’ve been delighted to listen to him to try to continue to improve.
"Absolutely that's something I’ve definitely had to work on," Molumby added when asked about controlling his work rate.
"I’m way more disciplined in my game but you can’t take that out of me or I’d be half the player. I feel that comes with maturity and I feel like I’m getting there."
Molumby played the full 90 minutes against Latvia on Wednesday night. He admits it felt like an audition for the France showdown, being tasked with a holding role usually performed by the rested Josh Cullen.
"I thought I did OK in the game, I was pleased enough," he said. "I was mean to have a quite disciplined role in terms of staying quite centrally and not venturing too far forward.
"That's something I don’t play often with West Brom or Ireland but obviously Josh wasn’t playing and I sort of had to pick up that position.
"Obviously I try to influence the game as much as I can. Everyone has different ways of influencing the team and the game and I'm just delighted to help the team in any way I can.
"Every game you play for your country has to be taken like that, you need to perform, it never stops, the pressure is always there. You need to perform to stay in the manager’s thoughts."
It's a sellout at Lansdowne Road for the visit of Didier Deschamps' aristocrats, who hammered the Netherlands 4-0 on Friday night.
Molumby is desperate to play his part on what will be an electric evening - though he admits even the Irish players are finding it hard to find tickets for friends and family.
"I'm trying to scrape tickets out of a barrel, to be fair. There are a lot of people from back home in Waterford looking to come up, I'm trying to look after everyone as much as I can.
"Mbappe is incredible, there's no other word you can use to describe him."
"It will be... the biggest game I'll have played in if I feature. These are the games everyone wants to play in, the ones you dream about as a kid. Hopefully the atmosphere is electric which I think it will be.
"I think now with the experience that I have, the games that I’ve played, I feel a lot more comfortable, I believe in myself a lot more. It helps playing regularly at club level and I’m at that age now where I feel really comfortable playing for Ireland, I feel confident and stuff so, yeah, I’m really happy.
"We know these [French] players are playing at the very top level in world football, they got to the final of the World Cup, playing at massive clubs.
"Mbappe is incredible, there's no other word you can use to describe him. Unbelievable player, he has achieved so much so far in his career at such a young age. I'm looking forward to that, playing against him."
Watch Republic of Ireland v France in Euro 2024 qualifying on Monday from 7pm live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary on 2fm's Game On
