"This is it; now it gets serious." Strong words from Heimir Hallgrimsson, after naming his 23-man squad for next week's double-header against Hungary and Armenia.
The two games signal the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign, as Ireland aim to secure safe passage to next year’s tournament, which will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the USA.
While Hallgrimsson has been in the Ireland manager’s position for over a year, and has taken charge of the team ten times over a Nations League campaign and a play-off win over Bulgaria, the imminent World Cup campaign has always been what he was brought in to oversee.
After a short, sharp campaign of six games - three home, three away, with Portugal making up the four-team group - Hallgrimsson’s future should be a lot clearer by mid-November.
An aspirational, if realistically unlikely, group win would see Ireland gain automatic qualification to the World Cup, while a second-place finish would extend the team’s involvement to the March play-offs, at least.
Anything other than a top-two finish will bring with it the usual uncertainty around the manager's future, and how the team compete throughout the overall campaign should offer insight as to whether Hallgrimsson will still be in charge for the Ireland co-hosted Euro 2028.
But first, Hungary at home.
A straight shoot-out between the second and third seeds to start, and a real indicator as to how this group should play out, with three valuable points up for grabs.
Hallgrimsson has always talked with confidence about the prospect of his side qualifying, and that theme continued at Tuesday’s press conference in Dublin.
"We feel really confident with this squad we have," said Hallgrimsson. "The reason being, like we hoped, players have started the season really well, we have players scoring in their clubs, we have players playing well, man-of-the-match performances, and then we have a lot of captains this season."
Hallgrimsson went on to name the list of players who are captaining their clubs, including Nathan Collins at Brentford, Josh Cullen at Burnley and Jason Knight at Bristol City, while adding that Liam Scales and Jimmy Dunne also play leadership roles at Celtic and QPR respectively.
"So a lot of captains showing that there is more and more leadership growing in this team, more leaders emerging, so we're just looking really forward to these games in September.
"But we know this is it. This is it, now it gets serious. All the things we've been doing up till now have just been leading up to this one. We know the importance of this first game in Aviva, and we hope we'll get a lot of support, I hope there's going to be every seat filled, and we have the support that is going to push us for a win."
UEFA stipulations limit the manager to calling up a maximum of 23 players for the international window, and Hallgrimsson admitted that it was a tough task attempting to get the balance right with the final selection.
A welcome headache, no doubt, as Hallgrimsson’s 12-month tenure has resulted in a settled squad with real competition for places, and with so many established players omitted, including captain Seamus Coleman, it places an added onus on those involved to hold onto their jersey.
Hallgrimsson also offered some insight into his selection process, with a real emphasis on versatility and on those who can bring something different to the squad.
Chiedozie Ogbene’s return to fitness appears to be a real bonus for the manager, as he places the Ipswich man in that aforementioned category, while he also believes that Stoke City’s Bosun Lawal is another who can prove very important within the squad.
"He [Chiedozie] has this directness. He's lightning fast, can do brilliant things on his own, but also really a good squad player, hard-working, honest player," said Hallgrimsson.
"It's early days for him, he's coming back from a terrible [Achilles] injury, but once he gets flying he can be lethal for opponents."
"I've said it many times, we have a lot of similar quality players, and leaving out a few is difficult to do, but he's [Bosun Lawal] taller, he's more physical, he's composed on the ball, really good in the air, so he has something extra there."
While Hallgrimsson has spent the year developing a squad in his own image, and is already working with a surplus, the manager is clearly still on the lookout for a player or two that might influence the World Cup campaign.
And the Icelander namechecked Sheffield United’s Louie Barry – who has declared for Ireland – as someone who is being monitored closely and has the potential to break into the squad for upcoming windows.
"We watched him last season in League 1 and he's a little different," said Hallgrimsson.
"He's really direct, and if I personally would say something about him, he's a guy that if you really need a goal, he would at least go for it.
"So really direct, good individual skills, but let's see how he copes with a step upwards, but we called him and he was really happy that we are watching him and he would be ready to go whenever we call upon him.
"So yeah, just another option we have, hopefully we get a chance to see him at some stage, but interesting, just a different kind of player."
As for the opening qualifier, Hallgrimsson may have hinted that he would be happy with a draw, when he said that four points would be a good return from the first two games, however, he stressed that he would be instructing his side to take the game to Hungary and the intention is to end the night with a momentum-building win and three valuable points on the board.
"The plan is to go for it here and try to win at home," he said. "That's always going to be our objective.
"We need to read the game as it goes, if they have the upper hand or whatever.
"An accepted draw if that is how the game is played, but we go for three points in the first game and that will just change everything leading up to the next game."
