Nathan Collins is sensing growth within the Republic of Ireland squad as he hopes to sign off on the international window on a high, having experienced some lows around this period in the past.
Friday's 1-1 draw with Senegal was encouraging, based on the performance and providing more minutes for newer faces in the green shirt.
Kasey McAteer made his first start in the game and marked it with a goal, while Killian Phillips came off the bench for his debut.
Bosun Lawal has been added to the squad for the game, and with no injury concerns after Josh Honohan overcame a knock, it gives Ireland the chance to experiment further this evening in Luxembourg.
Collins is a young captain at 24 and has certainly had more bad times than good.
He is happy to see some green shoots and knows there is the opportunity to build impetus going into the World Cup qualifiers in September.
The Brentford defender wasn’t involved in corresponding games last summer when there was an interim manager, but his overall feeling is a new platform is developing under Heimir Hallgrimsson.
Collins said: "I just think there's a bit more of a base in the team now I think, just a bit of solidness in it.
"I think last summer it was a bit up in the air regarding Ireland at the time.
"Now the way the squad is, the way we have our manager here where everything is solidified, we're building our base, we're growing with that, and again we're just trying to keep creating momentum for us to get better.
"Tuesday is going to be another tough challenge but it's another game for us to get better as a team and try to get another result to keep us going."
The Dubliner is all too aware it is just small strides and winning matches against high-ranked opponents is what is required to deliver any chance of World Cup qualification.
He has set sights on more improvements in Luxembourg, knowing the opposition may be at a slightly weaker level.
"There were chances we conceded against Senegal where we could have defended better," Collins conceded.
"We could have attacked the ball more. We could have been a bit more proactive and seen that game out.
"I think if we want to get to that next stage, we have to see a game like that out.
"I think we're definitely good enough. I think we're definitely good enough to go score another goal [in a game like that], but we're also good enough to not concede and not give them chances that we did concede, unfortunately.
"They are little things we can grow on, and then there's loads of individual things as players, as defensive units, as attacking units, and we can grow a lot together.
"But I think the take away from the last game is that if we can go and take our chances and go kill a game off, or if we can see a game out and just be solid, winning games like that will be massive come the World Cup."
Such thought is a far cry to how 2024 finished for Ireland after a 5-0 humbling by England at Wembley.
The game, against one of the best teams in the world, may have been a blessing in disguise according to Collins.
This year has seen Ireland avoid defeat, albeit in easier fixtures.
The pain of Wembley was something Collins has taken with him.
"For me personally, it probably created a bit more of a hunger in me, especially a little hunger and desire to do better for Ireland," he admitted.
"I think that one hurt a lot of people, I think it affected a lot of people, and it was probably nearly nice to have a little break away from everyone just to reset and get ready to go again.
"Considering what happened, the hurt we felt, the dressing room after was not a nice place.
"But for me it did definitely reset me to go and want to do better and improve for the next camp. It might have worked in a good way for us."
Watch Luxembourg v Republic of Ireland on Tuesday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
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