No alarms and no surprises; that's the word out of the Ireland camp ahead of Saturday’s friendly international against Belgium at the Aviva Stadium.
Interim head coach John O’Shea has a fully fit squad to work with after what he has described as an amazing week ahead of his first taste of international management.
In fact, O’Shea’s squad has actually been bolstered by the arrival of Ryan Manning; the Southampton man will give him options on the left side of defence for tomorrow’s fixture and Tuesday’s game against Switzerland.
"Ryan Manning has come in," said O'Shea, giving a squad update at the pre-match press conference. "He had a minor procedure at his club, thankfully it was a watching brief to how he was progressing and thankfully it's all gone well for him.
"He joined up with us yesterday, he will be into the squad straight away, and touch wood everyone else is fit and fighting well."
The Waterford man has been working with the squad all week and he has been impressed by the levels of commitment shown by the players, who he believes have bought into his plan for the double-header.
And while the familiarity of the squad allowed O’Shea to hit the ground running, having previously worked with the Ireland senior and under-21 squads, he also feels there is a freshness to this international camp four months on from the end of the previous regime.
"Amazing, really good," said O’Shea, when asked how he had enjoyed the week with the players.
"But that's helped by the support staff around me too, and ultimately the players.
"They are the key to it, buying into it and showing the desire and attitude and application to be aggressive and take things on, they show that in training but it comes to the crux of it now in the team, and we are looking forward to the game."
"No one surprised me, I know the group well, the staff have eyes on some of the players for the first time in the flesh, shall we say," he added.
"There's been a freshness to it in terms of seeing a couple of new staff and new players in the squad as well, you add that freshness, a relaxed atmosphere but also a proper learning curve as well in terms of what we will be looking for to do the job against Belgium."
O’Shea, of course, played the game at the top level in a very successful Manchester United team, and while there are many high-profile connections that he could reach out to ahead of his first game in charge, he has opted to trust the close team that he has assembled, working alongside Paddy McCarthy, Glenn Whelan and Brian Kerr.
"I just kept it, in my head, very simple in terms of the staff that I brought in," said O’Shea.
"There are lots of amazing people and it will be one of them that I will be able to touch into afterwards as well, in terms of the learnings from the two games as well and how you progress.
"That will be a big thing too but ultimately I just want to focus on the staff, myself and the players and not to be worried about too much outside noise."
The manager said that he will name the team on Friday, giving the players time to prepare, while also allowing the coaching team to fine tune certain aspects of the plan.
"The players will know today at some stage what the team will be," he said.
"I think it's important that, and then you can focus down on some finer details.
"That's when you come to the crunch time, final details and final preparation and having everyone on board.
"That's what we spoke about right from day one in terms of the two games, plenty of players playing and plenty of substitutes to finish the game and be as strong as you were when you started.
"The good thing is there are good players in form and it's a nice problem to have in a good few positions."
And looking ahead to the game, as the manager gets set to take charge of his country for the first time, he admitted that it is an accolade that matches everything else that he has achieved in the game.
"It’s right up there, it has to be, an incredible honour, to be manager of your country," said O’Shea.
"To get the chance to represent Ireland from Under-15 onwards and all the levels, captain your country, the chance to be involved coaching with the Under-21s and the senior team, and now being manager, it's amazing, one that myself and my family are really proud of."
Follow a live blog on Republic of Ireland v Belgium this Saturday from 5pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
