The ever clearer pathway towards the Republic of Ireland senior team is creating a palpable buzz within the Under-21 camp according to Jim Crawford's assistant Alan Reynolds.
The Boys in Green's U21s return to European qualification action today against Latvia in Jelgava with the aim of making it three wins from three, having beaten Turkey and San Marino at Turner's Cross in September.
That window last month saw striker Sinclair Armstrong drafted into Stephen Kenny's senior squad as injury cover and the QPR player subsequently won his first cap against the Netherlands in a Euro 2024 qualifier.
The Clondalkin native returned to the 21s in time to play and score in the win over San Marino two days later and Crawford revealed to RTÉ Sport post-match that his team-mates had welcomed Armstrong back into U21 training with an impromptu round of applause.
This time round, the focus is on Brighton attacking midfielder Andrew Moran whose performances on loan at Blackburn Rovers have caught Kenny's eye, so much so that the 19-year-old could be fast-tracked into the senior squad ahead of next Monday's Euro 2024 qualifier against Gibraltar in Faro given that the 21s don't have another fixture this month.
The likes of Evan Ferguson, Will Smallbone and Festy Ebosele have all made the step up to full international status since the last U21 Euro campaign, following in the foosteps of the previous crop who Kenny had helped develop at that age grade before he succeeded Mick McCarthy as senior manager.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport from Latvia, Reynolds said more players are knocking on the door towards progression out of the 21s.
"You can definitely see that there's a pathway there from the '21s. So many lads have gone up and I'm sure if I was a '21s player, I'd be thinking, 'I'm not too far away from getting that call' and there are a lot of really good players here who are playing well at the minute," he said.
"You're talking about Andy Moran who has been excellent hasn't he. But there are also others. You just had Joe Hodge on there... really good players, so their aim has to be to play for the national senior team and that's their ambition and hopefully we can provide that platform for him.
"It means they're doing well for us as well as their club if they're knocking on the door for the senior side."
However, he added that any decision to promote Moran would wait until after dealing with the challenge of Latvia.
"It's not something we'd really discuss since we have him now and we make the best of what we have," said Reynolds.
"A really, really good player, a really, really good fella too so whatever comes of it, I'm sure he'll have a successful career with the seniors at some point.
"But while we have him, we just focus on what we have. But as I said, there are others there as well as Andy, as he'd admit himself.
"It's a good group of players but it's a really, really tough group. You look at Norway, Turkey, Italy. It's the toughest group that's in it I would have thought, so all our focus at the moment is on Latvia."
While crucial fixtures against Norway and Italy will come in November, Ireland will have good reason not to look past Latvia.
The Baltic nation held the Italians to a goalless draw last month on Latvian soil and given that the Boys in Green were frustrated at times on the way to beating a defensive San Marino 3-0 in Cork four days after that, Reynolds said the Irish side had been looking to carry some of those lessons into today in anticipation of facing a low block and potential efforts to slow the game down.
"It's important that you review every camp. At the end of every camp you have a look back about what you could do better and what you've done well," he said.
"It was great in the last camp to get six points. That was the aim at the start of it. Leading onto Latvia, it's a different challenge.
"They were well beaten in their last game but they also drew with Italy over here so we focused on a lot of those things.
"But in regards to a low block, it's something players are used to. We'll expect them to try and frustrate us a bit and catch us on the counter-attack.
"But we're well prepared. There's a lot of work gone into it before this week. You can imagine the last month has been full on.
"So we give (Latvia) all the respect they deserve but I suppose we just focus on ourselves and with the quality of players we have."
Earlier this week, Reynolds' fellow Waterford county man John O'Shea took on the role of assistant coach to Wayne Rooney at Birmingham City which will see him combine that club position with his commitments within Kenny's Irish senior set-up.
Over the last three years, Reynolds has been combining his U21 job with assistant roles at League of Ireland clubs, latterly joining Waterford earlier in 2023 from Derry City.
Reflecting on the challenges of juggling club and international duties, he said: "I suppose when you come into a (international) camp, it's really 24:7 and you're full on for the ten days that you're in, and leading into it you're looking at players, you're going over to see players in the UK.
"It is a challenge and you go back to your own club but there are plusses to it as well. You're on the grass coaching every day which keeps you sharp for when you come into these camps, so I love it. I really enjoy working with the calibre of players here so there's no complaints from my end."
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