Stephen Kenny is not expecting an easy encounter as his side take on Greece in Athens on Friday night, however, the Ireland manager remains confident that his team can come away with all three points in the Euro 2024 qualifier.
Kenny urged an element of caution ahead of the clash with Gus Poyet's side, as he pointed to Greece’s fine home record and their recent run of form, however, he feels that the improvements his team have shown over the past 12 months should reap rewards to secure what he is calling a potential historic away win.
Victory would put Ireland’s first three points on the board following their opening defeat to France, and while he was not entertaining the notion of it being a must-win game at such an early stage of the process, he admitting that it was a very important one.
The manager said that he had real concerns during the build-up to Friday's game as he had to negotiate a tricky six-week period to maintain and improve player fitness levels, however, he revealed that the entire squad had arrived to Athens with a clean bill of health and he paid tribute to the backroom team for the work that they have put in.
"One of our main objectives coming into the week was to get everyone fit here tonight, so credit to the backroom team that that is the case and we have everyone available, which we are pleased about.
"It’s always a concern with the six-week gap for players who haven’t been playing, to overdo it, do too much or get the balance right.
"From our point of view, we are looking forward to the game. We are looking for that historic away win, that’s our objective, that’s what we want.
"Greece have a very good home record, they have been in good form over the past year, we respect that.
"Nothing will be easy, we will have to fight for everything and it's only the second game of the group so I don’t think anything is decided so early, but it is certainly going to be an important game for both teams."
Kenny also spoke about previous away games where results did not always reflect performances, most notably the Portugal game, where Ireland went from enjoying a 1-0 lead in the 88th minute to losing the game 2-1 thanks to two late Cristiano Ronaldo goals, however, he believes that the improvement the side have shown over the past year adds to the confidence levels.
"Of course, we have analysed all the performances and the obvious one is the game in Portugal, which we lost late.
"But we have learned so much about the team over the last year and you can see the team improving.
"But this is a stern test. Greece are a really good team, they are at home, and it will be a brilliant atmosphere, I’m sure, and it is one that we want the players to rise to and put in a big performance.
"I think you can see the team getting better and that was evident in the previous game against France and it was a strong performance in that game. But this is a different game and it requires a different approach, and we are making sure that we are ready for tomorrow night."
And from a players’ perspective, the nine-day training camp in Turkey, while tough, appears to have the desired effect coming into a game that could set the tone for the remainder of ghe qualifying campaign.
"We had a really good training camp, which was very important to get everyone back together after the season and just hone in on what we do here as a group," said John Egan, who joined the manager at the pre-match press conference.
"The manager and the staff have been brilliant; we’ve had a really good training camp in Turkey and we are raring to go and looking forward to the game tomorrow night."
Watch Greece v Republic of Ireland in the Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday night from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live radio commentary with Game On on 2fm
